So He's My Boyfriend, Right
by WootYaoi
Summary: Sequel to So There's This Guy, Right. Naruto has some issues he refuses to deal with, Sasuke can't make decisions, the parentals pose to be quite a problem, Itachi's still insane, Sakura still interferes and Shikamaru still doesn't care. YAOI
1. Just A Pastry!

YAY! Hello everyone! Welcome to the So There's This Guy, Right sequel! If you haven't read that story yet then I suggest you do, just so that it saves you a number of confusion-headaches in the future if you read this first. You know the drill – follow my profile link, read, review, continue to this one, love it hate it whatever don't mind.

This story is mainly focusing on the drama of Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, hence the genre change, but I'll slip in as much humour as the story will allow and wherever it's appropriate, it just isn't my main concern now. All the entertainment will probably come from Itachi's psycho ramblings and possibly Naruto being Naruto.

But don't let that deter you from reading! I promise this will be just as good as the last… at least I really hope it will… I'll let you be the judge, ne?

I know I lied! I said it'd be a week but then I did some shuffling of chapters today and split one of them so now the first three chapters are complete and I'm halfway through chapter four, meaning I'm all set to start posting! This actually happened much faster than I was anticipating... eh. Expect updates either every Wednesday or Friday. It'll most likely be on of those days.

This chapter is short because it's the first one, and it all seems a little pointless but it's establishing that Naruto and Sasuke are in a relationship now (even though you knew that…), and I can guarantee the others will all be the usual 8-10 pages.

So, now that all that's said… enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review!

**Disclaimer: Trust me guys, I don't own Naruto. I wish I did, but I don't. Oh the heartache!**

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1. JUST A PASTRY?!

"Itachi, turn around and walk back. Trust me, everything will be fine. Just take a couple of steps back and Naruto will come and get you."

Itachi screeched at the sky, arms flailing about as his hair blew in the wind and ignoring anything Kisame was saying. It was possibly the most insane I had ever seen him. Not what he was actually saying, oh no, this didn't even come _close_ to that time with the soap, but just his appearance made him seem even madder than he was. I glanced slightly to the left as I worried my bottom lip between my teeth, and saw Naruto standing with arms outstretched, beckoning Itachi towards him and crouched low so as not to lose his balance. I could see his mouth moving but couldn't hear a word of it.

Kisame was shifting from foot to foot frantically beside me, calling out useless things to Itachi to get him to come down. I groaned into my hand and glared up at my brother, two stories above. _Why_ had they come over? Honestly, it made no sense. Naruto was _my_ boyfriend, and I was going to his house to be _alone_.

"Itachi, stop being a prat and get you arse over to Naruto!"

My brother's head snapped down towards me and he pointed a shaky finger. "You! You don't care! No one cares!"

"I care! Itachi, please don't. It was just a pastry, it's really nothing to worry about. _Please_ come down!"

"Just a pastry? _Just_ a pastry? I made that pastry with _love_, Kisame, and what does my dear brother go and do? Throws it in Naruto's face, that's what! The disrespect, the hurt, the _pain_, brother!"

I sighed in exasperation and raised my hands. "Okay, I'm sorry. It'll never happen again. In fact, let's make some more together on your next day off. How does that sound?"

"You can't trick me!" His arms flailed dangerously and Kisame took a step forward as Naruto did the same. "You don't care about anything I do! I'm so unappreciated in this household!"

Naruto took a few more steps forward, now only a couple of metres away from Itachi, who was balancing precariously on the edge of the roof, arms still swinging about wildly. This was going to end bad, I could just see it. It wasn't like he was high enough to actually _kill_ himself, but if he landed weird then he could definitely do some damage and I'd be visiting him in hospital for the next month. Not something I really wanted to be doing.

Kisame's voice started getting a little desperate. "Itachi, just step backwards, Naruto will get you. Look, go back and we'll go home, okay? Please, just go to Naruto."

Itachi shook his head and inched closer to the edge. Naruto was only a metre away now.

I scowled and shouted up to him for the hundredth time. "This is getting ridiculous. Just take a couple of steps away and get the hell down, okay! You're making a big deal over nothing."

My brother opened his mouth to shriek something back at me, but Kisame held up a hand, a new determined expression set on his face.

"Right. Get down or no sex for a month. I mean it."

Itachi faltered a little at that. Hah.

I smirked up at Naruto, who was trying his best not to laugh, and crossed my arms. If that didn't get him down then nothing would.

"Y-You… You wouldn't!"

Kisame frowned. "Want to prove it?"

"I… w-well… no?"

He nodded. "Neither do I, now get down."

"O-Oh… Okay…"

We all let out audible sighs of relief as Itachi took a couple of steps back and Naruto caught him around the middle, dragging him back a safe distance. Kisame leapt into action and ran into the house, appearing on the roof within a minute and launching himself at my brother. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but from the slightly disgusted look on Naruto's face I decided I probably didn't want to.

I squatted on the ground and ran a hand through my hair. That was closer than I would've liked.

I glanced up and met Naruto's gaze. He pointed to himself then down to me, then made a walking motion with his fingers and shrugged his shoulders. I nodded, getting the meaning, and he disappeared from view for a short while before appearing out the front door and coming around the side of the house to where I was.

He grinned down at me and sat opposite, nudging me hard enough so I fell down next to him. I 'oof'ed as I hit the ground, lying on my back and staring up at the sky. Shikamaru would've liked the clouds today, although perhaps there was a few too many of them to make a distinction. He might not have liked that.

"You all right?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, just… Thanks for going up there."

He nodded and took my hand, squeezing it lightly before laying down next to me. "Well what was I supposed to do? Leave him up there on his own without anything to fall back on? I could never do that, you know me."

I smiled a little. Yeah, I did.

"And plus, if he really did jump then I would've had to deal with a depressed Sasuke, which is something I'm definitely not looking forward to."

"… He probably would've done it, you realise."

"But he didn't and that's all that matters. He wouldn't have seriously hurt himself anyway. Have to be at least six floors up for that to happen."

I raised an eyebrow. "And you know that how?"

"Orochimaru decided to tell me all the possible ways of killing myself one time. Dunno why, I think he was hinting at something."

I growled low in my throat and Naruto laughed. I glared up at him. "You keep telling me stuff like that and I'll let loose and actually kill him, you know."

He nodded. "Yep, but maybe that's my plan."

I scoffed. "You don't have it in you."

"Aah, you never know. I might have this hidden power that I'm yet to discover."

"Mhmm, sure you do."

He shifted so he was resting on his elbow and leant over me. I blinked up at him, fully aware of _that_ look in his eyes.

"Naruto, my brother just threatened to jump off your roof. No."

He pouted. I squirmed. He knew it was irresistible. "Please?"

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. "No. When they're gone, maybe, but not now."

He smirked and flipped so he was sitting upright and looked up at Itachi and Kisame, still on the roof. "Hey! You two! Get your arses out of here so I can have some alone time with Ice Bitch!"

I smacked him in the arm and he looked down at me with a grin. "You said you'd stop calling me that."

He shrugged. "It slipped, honest."

"Hn."

He chuckled and ran a hand through my hair as I attempted to scowl at him. In truth, that felt too good for me to even get a half-scowl out. Sneaky bugger.

Footsteps to the right drew our attention and we looked over at my brother and Kisame, holding hands and looking very pleased with themselves. Itachi gave me a thumbs up and a huge grin. Lee, anyone?

"Right! We're off! Enjoy your leftover pastries, you two, and Sasuke, try to be home before six. I'll cook you something nice. Sorry for worrying you guys!"

He flashed us another grin as we smiled and nodded uneasily at him, grabbed Kisame's hand and flounced out of the garden.

Naruto turned to me with his eyebrows raised and said, "Does he always change that fast?"

I nodded. "Yep. You should try living with him. One second he wants to kill you then the next he's crying over a dead wasp."

He whistled and got to his feet, holding out a hand to me. I took it and stood up with him, keeping it in my grip the whole way around to his backyard. He nodded in the direction of the pool and grinned.

"Fancy a swim?"

I raised my eyebrows. "It may be over fifteen degrees for once, but that doesn't qualify it as swimming weather."

He pouted again and I looked away. "But whyyy?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're so pushy."

He laughed and yanked my hand so I was forced to stumble and stand right in front of him, mere centimetres away. "But that's what you like about me, right?"

I 'hmph'ed and tried my utmost to resist the dreaded pout. He let his eyes water a little and I pointedly looked away. A tug on my hair forced me to meet his eyes again, and I finally gave in, reasoning that I _had_ said I would once my brother and his freak left. I leant forwards slightly and pushed my lips against his, keeping a tight grip on his hand and lifting my other to the back of his neck as his went around my waist.

He smiled against my lips and whispered, "Couldn't resist me, ey?"

I pulled away just long enough to scold "Quiet, you," before leaning forwards and capturing his lips yet again.

It had only been two days since we got together and he'd already thrown his 'let's take it slow' idea out the window. Honestly, he couldn't keep his mouth to himself for longer than five minutes, the horny bastard. Not that I was complaining, oh hell no.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, asking for entrance. I complied and God damn you'd have to have serious problems to complain about this. Give him some time and he'd surpass Gaara in this area of expertise.

I pushed against him a little with my own tongue, itching to get back to my usual dominant position, but he was having none of that today. I let my hand drop from his neck to trail down his back, reaching the hem of his jacket and slipping underneath to feel the smooth warm skin underneath. He shivered and I pulled away from the kiss, tilting my head downwards to kiss along his jaw and down his neck. I smirked against his skin and bit down lightly as he squeezed my hand extra tight and dug his fingers into my waist. They slipped under my shirt and I bit my lip at the contact. His hand was freezing, completely contrasting to my own warmth.

I made small circular motions with my thumb against the small of his back as he played with the hem of my pants, and worked my way back to his lips, kissing them softly after whispering, "Not now."

He made a sound of disapproval in the back of his throat and grumbled, "Inside?"

I kissed him again. "Anyone in there?"

He shrugged and kissed me hard, a couple of fingers slipping beneath my waistband. This was gonna take a hell of a lot of self-restraint to stop. If there was a way to teleport into his room or mine right now I would've used it, without a doubt.

"Just Shizune, she won't care."

I pulled back to look him in the eye, trying my hardest to ignore his wandering fingers and his hot breath against my lips. "Are you sure?"

He paused a moment before sighing and moving his hand so it was cupping the back of my head. He pulled me forwards and kissed me deeply before taking a tiny step back and looking down at his feet.

"I don't know. I don't think any of them are ready though, best not risk it."

I squeezed his hand encouragingly and tugged him towards me, finally letting go of his hand and throwing my arms around his neck. I breathed deeply into his neck and sighed.

"Planning on telling them any time soon?"

He made a noncommittal grunt. "It's only been two days, teme, give it a bit of time and I'll get around to it."

Translation: stop being such a pushy bastard.

I huffed and raised an eyebrow. Yeah well maybe I like being pushy.

He grinned, understanding completely, and nodded in the direction of the door. "Come on you, inside. Shizune's probably got lunch for us."

"But Itachi made us lunch."

"That was hardly lunch, and you threw it in my face."

I snorted at his scowl. "What? It was funny."

"Oh how you laugh at my expense."

I tilted my head to the side, pretending to think for a moment. "Well… yes."

He rolled his eyes and dragged me towards the house. "Ha, ha. Excellent. I've found myself an abusive boyfriend."

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So... how'd it go for chapter 1? Care to share? The buttons just there, you know... (Hey, that sorta rhymes) And please excuse any spastic formatting, the document page is refusing to be cooperative, hence that line there -points down-. That's if it's still there... Oh, so unpredictable -facepalm-

Orochimaru will pay us a visit next chapter, and the drama really starts. -x flies music-

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	2. Gay Moment

I noticed there was a bit of confusion last chapter as to what exactly pastries _were_… Well, you know those dessert thingies with cream and fruit and whatnot all held in by a sort of pastry cup? That's what I was thinking of… Sorry for the confusion, I didn't really figure it would need explaining, but obviously it only made sense in my mind XP

Again, my dividers aren't working. Don't think they ever will... so I have to use the line thingies. Blah. Not a big fan of them.

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

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2. GAY MOMENT

The bell rang loud and clear and I frowned. School again. For the term. Just the term. Then I'd be somewhere else, with new people, new teachers, rules, classes, surroundings and expectations. That was the most important thing. Those bloody expectations. They'd be the death of me, I swear.

Naruto pulled on my sleeve and I glanced down at him. His brow was creased with worry and he gave me a small frown, nodding to the door of our English room and tilting his head in question.

I shook my head and tugged my arm out of his grip with an "It's nothing… just… you know."

He sighed and pulled me back to wait for the rest of the class to file in. "Just go with the flow, okay? Take everything as it comes. You don't know for certain that it's your last term, so do as you always do and don't give a damn about the others. Changing the routine will make it seem worse than it is." He gave me a concerned look. "You gonna be okay?"

I nodded and waited for Shikamaru to slouch into the class before following him, but not before Naruto said quietly, "And can we, you know, shh?"

I knew he'd be uncomfortable at school, and so shut away my feelings of wanting to shout 'so what if people know we're dating? If they got a problem they can take it up with me!' and instead gave him a nod and a small, sad smile, following my lazy excuse for a friend into the room.

Well ahead of Kakashi-sensei, of course.

It may have been a new term but that didn't really change anything. Shikamaru would be lazy, Gaara and Neji would whisper intelligent things to each other in the back, Ino and Tenten would gossip about the latest couple (let's hope Ino _never_ found out), Lee would happily tell anyone who'd listen about his latest training schedule (training for what, nobody actually knew), and Kiba would sit there and draw, completely tuned out to the rest of the world.

Kakashi-sensei would be late, but once he arrived everyone would shut up and pass notes while Naruto asked stupid questions. Guaranteed.

I sat in my usual place next to Shikamaru and Tenten and slouched down in my seat, tuning everyone out and trying not to look too happy. Heaven forbid I actually looked pleased about something.

Before long my eyes glanced up of their own accord and I caught Naruto winking at me. Fight it, Sasuke, fight it! You have the pow- apparently you don't. I let myself smile like an idiot before smacking my head down on the table.

Shikamaru snorted to my left. "I take it everything went well, then?"

I stiffened automatically. Naruto had said keep it all hush-hush, but really, what harm would telling Shikamaru do? He'd be far too lazy to tell anyone, and he sort of had a right to know, anyway. I shrugged noncommittally and said nothing. Then I could say I hadn't actually told him, he'd figured it out. Which would be true. Man, third day and I'm already being sneaky. Aeigh.

"Sakura will be happy."

I made a sound of distress and he laughed. "Don't fancy the entire school knowing in thirty seconds flat?"

I shook my head.

"But it'll be fun."

I lifted my head and scowled.

"Come now, what's that look for? You should be happy."

I scowled deeper. "Think of what Temari would be like if she was PMSing and found out you cheated on her. With her brother. With Kankuro." I paused for dramatic effect as his face paled. "That's what I'll be like if you tell Sakura. Or Ino. Or Temari, for that matter."

He nodded. "Uh-huh, sure thing."

I smiled disturbingly and turned my face back to the desktop. "Good." Who said threats weren't the answer?

* * *

I crossed my arms and glared openly at the deathly pale man and his 'student' standing in the middle of the room. He had a tan-coloured shirt that made him look whiter than he was, and long black hair that didn't help either. His cheeks were hollow and he had huge purple bags under his eyes, which were a creepy yellow-green, sort of like a snake. The casual outfit was completed by a simple denim jeans and thongs. Definitely not accustomed to teaching life yet. Obviously.

I shifted a little closer to Naruto, who was fidgeting uncomfortable next to me. If this bastard said anything even remotely suggestive to my Naruto, I was going to kick his arse into the next ice age, no two ways about it.

I moved to take Naruto's hand but he jerked it away from me. I frowned. So he didn't want Orochimaru to find out, huh? He must've had his reasons, so I let it be. It didn't stop me getting just a little annoyed, though.

"Good afternoon, class! Ready for an exciting semester in drama?"

Unenthusiastic mumbles answered him.

"I _said_, are you excited?!"

Several loud swallows were audible at the sudden change in Orochimaru's tone before a loud chorus of "Hai, sensei!" bounced off the walls of the large room. Naruto, myself and Kiba excluded, of course.

"I'm ready to embrace my youth, sir! When can we –"

"No one asked you, Bowl Cut."

Ooh, ouch.

Tenten stepped up the bait, throwing an arm around Lee's shoulders and jabbing a brave finger in Orochimaru's direction. "That was unca-"

"Shut up." Every pair of eyebrows in the room went up, save Naruto's. He was probably expecting the harsh behaviour, anyway. "And I do not allow that kind of… _affection_ in my classes, Miss Loudmouth," he added, motioning to the arm around Lee's shoulders.

I dropped my eyebrows and deepened my scowl. I must have accidentally made a noise in the back of my throat or something, because Orochimaru turned his snake eyes on me and smiled a disturbing smile.

"And what might your name be?"

I didn't answer. He stepped up uncomfortably close and Naruto scrambled to get away. I wanted to grab his hand and tell him he was just a perve who liked instilling fear in little kids, there was nothing to worry about while I was around, but thought that might get us into trouble.

"I asked you what your name was."

I still didn't answer. I didn't think I had quite enough self-control to stop myself shouting out all a manner of obscenities at him for so much as being in the same room as Naruto and not looking ashamed about it. That bastard. So I clenched my jaw tight and kept quiet, knowing it might not have been the smartest thing to do but really not giving a damn.

"Kabuto, what's this boy's name?"

The grey-haired, spectacle-wearing suck-up stepped forward and pushed his glasses even further up his nose with a proud smile.

"I believe that is Uchiha Sasuke, sir."

Pervo's mouth twisted into a sick smirk and he lifted a finger to my cheek. I slapped his hand away with a glare. He chuckled.

"My, you're a feisty one. And an Uchiha? Just like Itachi… Yes, yes, I thought you looked familiar… You'll be good for a main role, that's for sure."

Like hell I would.

He suddenly spun on his heel and clapped his hands, giving a theatrical little swish of his hair and flashing us all a sickening smile. It looked vaguely like he was in a great deal of pain and trying not to show it. Then again, he probably was.

"Right, class, time for introductions!" He turned to face us again and gave a deep bow. I took the opportunity to grab Naruto's hand, hiding it behind the bulk of his jacket so Orochimaru wouldn't see it. He squeezed it tight and I returned the gesture, letting him know that I was there.

Yep, Naruto was definitely the only person who could do this to me.

"I'll start us off then! My name is Orochimaru, but call me sensei. It's not important where I grew up or what family I have, though for the record I live with your principal and her husband. Don't hold it against me though!" Another sick grimace. "I chose to become a drama teacher because it is my passion and I love children, so teaching you all is such a pleasure." Naruto gripped my hand tighter. "This is my first year teaching so you'll have to bear with me, but I'll try my best. I already have a student teacher with me to take care of, so be extra nice! This is Kabuto, and he'll be with us the entire semester."

The young man was pushed forwards and the class gave him an unenthusiastic greeting. Orochimaru continued, yanking him back into line next to him.

"Now for the rules! I will not tolerate _any_ noise while I am speaking, which means you, Fangs, shut up now before I make you."

Kiba gulped and took a step away from Sakura.

"If you are late to my class you will not be allowed in, if you do not do as I tell you, you will be sent out, and if you have repeated offences you will be out of this class entirely and sent somewhere else." His voice dropped menacingly low, and a collective shudder went around the class. "Is that clear?"

Everyone nodded, again excepting Naruto, Kiba and I. Orochimaru glared at each of us in turn until we did. Creepy eyes.

"Right, your turn for introductions!"

Lee stepped forwards, but the perve talked over him again. "Bowl Cut, we already know you. Same as Loudmouth, Uchiha and Fangs. So, everyone else, step up and give me a dramatic introduction!"

He swished his hair again and beckoned for Sakura to step forward. "Pinky, you're up."

Sakura made her way to the front of the classroom with a determined stride. "My name is Haruno Sakura, I li-"

"That's nice, didn't ask for your life story. Now you, Tart, get up here."

Sakura was practically pushed back into the crowd by Kabuto as Ino was yanked up front, both girls looking terrified and angry at the same time.

Naruto let go of my hand and growled. "Hey Orochimaru, that's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

Orochimaru turned to Naruto with a sickening smirk, looking him up and down. He put a hand to his chin in mock thought. "I think I'll see you after class."

Oh hell no. "No you won't."

The creepy snake eyes turned to bore holes into me, but I stared back evenly. Like hell I was backing down. He had to know that I was one student he couldn't push around like all the others.

"Yes, you're right." His smile grew even nastier and Naruto shifted uneasily. "I'll see him at home, won't I?" He turned back to Naruto. "And it's _sensei_ to you, brat."

* * *

The bell signalled the end of class and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, immediately crowding around the door to escape the freak show. Honestly, how could Tsunade ever have even _thought_ of letting that pervert teach fifteen and sixteen year olds? He looked at us like he hadn't eaten in weeks and we were a piece of meat he'd stumbled across. Really uncomfortable when you're trying to do drama exercises and he's staring holes into your skull and licking his lips.

I shuddered and pushed my way out the door, scouting out either Naruto's blonde hair or Sakura's pink. I didn't see either of them the whole way back to the lockers, where I came face to face with Dog Boy. Great. Just who I needed to see. Ugh.

"Seen Naruto?"

He scowled. "Why?"

I huffed and blew my fringe out of my eyes. "Because I want to talk to him."

"What for?"

I growled and stepped closer to him, a little put out that his gaze didn't falter in the slightest. "What's it to you, Inuzuka?"

He shrugged, for once his face not showing exactly what he was thinking. Huh, he sure had changed in the two weeks I'd been gone. Maybe he grew some balls.

"Best mates, remember? I gotta look out for him, and I don't think he'd wanna talk to you at the moment."

That caught my attention. I briefly wondered what the situation was with Shino and Kiba nowadays, no one having informed me, and hoped to every divine being there possibly was that 'best mates' with Naruto was the right term. Clearly he hadn't told Kiba about us, but that wasn't what was bothering me.

"Why? Is he all right? Where is he?"

Kiba gave me a strange look. "Why the sudden interest?"

I sighed and rubbed a hand on my forehead. "Look, that doesn't matter. I just have to see him, okay?"

"O-Okay… He said something about Shizune taking him home, so he probably went to the office."

I hoisted my bag on my shoulder immediately and bolted off in that direction.

I ran out the doors and around the corner, down the stairs and oh there's Sakura. I drew up short, calling out to her. She turned and raised her eyebrows, walking up to me with that airy walk she has. You know, the one where she's thinking about something else entirely and is just following wherever her feet take her but not actually paying attention to where that is. It's how she ended up in the guy's bathroom once.

"What's up?"

"Is Naruto down at the office?"

She shook her head slowly, brow creased in confusion. "No, I was just down there talking to Shizune and I didn't see him."

Shizune… "He said she was taking him home."

She shrugged. "Well she didn't say anything." She probably did, you were just too spaced out to notice. "What's with you two anyway? You never told me what happened after we left."

I shrugged absently and brushed past her, more important things on my mind. "Nothing worth mentioning, tell you some other time." Do I feel bad for lying to one of my closest friends? … Kinda.

I didn't have to turn back from my hurry to know she had her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, finally brought back from whatever fantasy land she was in about her latest crush. But I didn't bother arguing with her, I didn't have time.

I had to find Naruto and stop him before he went home, otherwise… I shuddered. I didn't even want to think of it. Maybe he'd be smart enough to stay away after what happened in class this afternoon, but I doubted it. He was the sort of person who thought he was invincible to a certain extent and did whatever he could to prove it, and facing Orochimaru to prove he wasn't afraid was included in that.

Damn him and his determination.

I burst through the office doors and raced up to Shizune. She widened her eyes at what must have been my frantic appearance, and came to the counter window to greet me.

"Uchiha, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah, seen Naruto?"

She pursed her lips at me and frowned. Well sor-ry for not being polite, but I'm sorta in a rush here. School finished fifteen minutes ago and considering Orochimaru wasn't an actual teacher, I figured he wouldn't do any serious teacherly duties and would leave for home the second the bell went, just like us kids. That meant there was a high possibility he was waiting at home for Naruto right now, and that thought didn't sit too well with me.

"Why, what happened?"

I shifted from foot to foot. "Just some stuff in drama, but I -"

"Drama?" Her eyebrows shot up as she interrupted me.

"Yeah, so cou-"

"With Orochimaru?"

Agh! "Yes, an-"

"Bastard!"

Oh for Christ's sake, woman! I scowled. "Yes, we all know that, now I _need_ to see Naruto."

She nodded. "Too right you do. Honestly, as much as I trust Tsunade after all she's done for me, this is something I'll nev-"

"Sorry I'm in a rush. Where would he have gone?"

She blinked slowly at me, then formed a fist with her hand and nodded, looking very determined. "Home. And if he's not there, that Inuzuka boy's house. Go! I'll have a word with Tsunade. Keep him entertained for a while and I'll give him a call when it's okay."

I raised an eyebrow. "So, you…?"

She flashed me a warning glare. "I _what_?"

I shook my head, already backing away towards the exit. "Nothing, nothing, forget it." And I piss-bolted out the door, bag swinging wildly behind me.

By the time I reached Naruto's house I'd gone through every possible list of horrible situations in my mind, and had cursed my wandering imagination to the very depths of hell where I prayed it would remain for the rest of my lifetime. Honestly, how could I be expected to think rationally when I had an imagination like that giving me all sorts of possible outcomes?

I growled at myself, forcing my mind to concentrate on finding Naruto and only that, and sprinted up his front path. Pushing open the door, I immediately noticed the uncomfortable silence.

"Naruto?!" I shouted out into the enormous house, my voice echoing desperately back at me.

Shit.

I took a few tentative steps forward and called out again, the only answer being my second echo and a slightly off-sounding cough from the sitting room to the right. I quickly dashed in there, knowing it wasn't Naruto but hoping it was Jiraiya or someone who might have seen him.

No such luck.

And again – shit.

Orochimaru sat elegantly on the couch, legs tucked underneath him and a warm cup of something in his hands, looking for all the world like the disgusting creep he was. I stopped short at the door and he slowly looked at me.

"Looking for someone?"

I clenched my jaw.

"My, my, you sure are the strong silent type, aren't you? Are you always like this?" He slowly stood up, his now untucked shirt open and swishing behind him. I took a step back.

"Where's Naruto?"

He attempted a smile and came several paces closer to me. I went another few back. "Oh he's been and gone. You, however, are welcome to stay."

I snorted, gave him the finger and spun on my heel, a clear signal that I most certainly did _not_ want to stay.

I dashed back out onto the street and sprinted off to the right before I came to the corner, head spinning every which way. Crap, Kiba's house was… ugh, as if I could remember that. I'd never needed to. Shikamaru was the map when we walked to his place for the party, and I really wasn't paying a lot of attention. Had we gone left or right once we got to Gaara's?

I shook my head and cursed at myself in frustration.

Calm down, Sasuke, he's not at home so there's no need to stress so much anymore.

But he _was_ at home, and that's where the problem lay. If he had been at home then all a manner of things could have happened… I clenched my fists in determination.

Then I had a thought, followed by a _very_ strong urge to smack myself one in the head for not thinking of it sooner.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket quick as a flash and called Naruto, holding my breath as the dial tone rang in my ear, one after the other. Finally a voice broke the monotony, but it was only his message bank. My heart sank right back down to the pit of my stomach.

"_Yo! If you're a fangirl, I hate you. If you're not, leave a message and I'll try to find a break in being awesome to call you back. No guarantees, though. Catch!"_

"Shit, Naruto, answer your damn phone. What's happening? You just pissed off today and I wanted to talk to you. I'm at the corner of your street and its bloody cold, so hurry up and call me when you get this… Please?"

I snapped the phone shut with a scowl and slid it back into my pocket. I should have known it was too simple to actually work. There was always a flaw in plans involving mobiles – they were never answered.

A cough from behind me made me turn around, and I instantly felt a mixture of intense relief and anger when I saw who it was.

Naruto lifted his hand in a sheepish greeting, ducking his head and looking at me through his fringe. "Hey…"

I walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tight. "Hey."

He smiled and placed a hand on top of mine, sighing.

"You okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you wa-"

"No."

I frowned, dropping my hand so I could hold his. "I know you don't want to talk, you didn't let me finish."

He glanced down at our entwined fingers and stared at them for a bit before looking up at me with his eyebrows raised, a semi-amused expression on his face. "You know, for someone who'd never held hands before, you've gotten quite attached, ne?"

I blinked, the relevance taking a moment to catch up to me, and clocked him lightly over the head as I tried to fight a blush. "Shut up. It's nice."

"Eh? Uchiha Sasuke thinks holding hands is _nice_?"

I scowled. "Yes, and don't look so surprised."

He laughed and let go of my hand, choosing to sling it around my waist instead and turn me around so we were walking back down his street. "Sorry, just sometimes you come out with weird stuff like that and it's taking a bit of getting used to."

I copied him and looped my arm through his so I could settle it around his waist. "Well whatever, more to the point, you interrupted me before."

"I apologise. Please continue, oh kind sir who worries about me so."

I ignored the jibe and took a deep breath. "How about staying with me for a couple of days? Just, you know… if you want to get away or whatever. Just thinking that maybe it'd be a bit hectic at first seeing him at school and then at home and Shizune said she was going to have a word with Tsunade and she looked pretty mad so I was thinking it'd be better if you weren't there for a while." I finally breathed, surprised that I'd gotten all that out. "You don't have to, it's just a suggestion. I can understand if you –"

"Sasuke."

"Hm?"

"Shut up. If you want me in the pants you can just _ask_."

I blinked, completely at a loss for what to say.

His face broke into a huge grin and he squeezed my side. I did my best not to squirm. Uchiha's don't squirm. "I was _joking_, you fool!" He laughed. "Sure I'll stay with you, just don't try anything funny."

I tried my best not to feel too insulted, and didn't bother dignifying it with a response, leaving his imagination up to its own meanderings.

He got a faraway look in his eyes, putting on a dopey smile and a wistful girly voice. "Aah, not even a week and we're already moving in together. It's too good to be true!"

I stopped walking and gave him a stern glare. "Dobe…"

He laughed and tugged me forwards, kissing me quickly before continuing down the street. "Sorry, gay moment."

I rolled my eyes and tried not to smile too much.

Honestly, that kid…

* * *

Orochimaru's here for the hating! Yay! Drama drama drama, yum yum yum.

Hey all, who's the Akatsuki leader? The BIG head-honcho guy? if you have a theory about the Fourth don't tell me because I haven't actually finished the series yet. I only know about that because I accidentally read a tiny little snippet about it on someone's profile before I shut my eyes and skipped down. Just the name of who we _know_ is the leader would be excellente.

So, I probably don't have to ask, but I will anyway. Review?


	3. Gender Is A Funny Thing

Okay, I just checked the dates for this year's term three in Victoria (where I live), and apparently it's only two months long. I was going to just go by the exact dates of the terms to save myself confusion, but I personally think two months is a tad short. So instead of it finishing on September 19 it's finishing two weeks later on October 3, just so that I have time to have _that_ scene –giggle-. I'm very particular about dates and whatnot, as you can probably tell, and I don't want someone else who pays attention to that stuff to shake their finger at me and go 'no no no, WootYaoi, you got that wrong', hence letting you all know what the low down is. Yes…

And I seem to have an ongoing thing with apples… I don't know why…

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

3. GENDER IS A FUNNY THING

I pushed open the front door, Naruto following in after me.

"Tadaima!"

No response. I frowned.

We both kicked off our shoes and wandered down to my room, still no sounds coming from the rest of the house. He didn't say anything about coming home late today…We threw our bags to the floor in silence, pointedly ignoring the single bed issue that was suddenly staring us right in the face, and I called out again.

"Itachi?"

A clang from the laundry. Oh crap.

I turned on my heel and Naruto sent me a confused look. "What's up?"

I shook my head, "Long story," And rushed down the short hallway and into the laundry, where yep, there he was. But thankfully not _in_ the washing machine this time. Almost, but not quite.

He was leaning his elbows on the edge of the machine, chin resting on his palms and looking down into it with an expression of serious contemplation.

I sighed. "Itachi, not in there again."

I ignored Naruto's barely concealed snort.

My brother turned to look at me, eyes widening in surprise. "You? When did you get home?"

"About two minutes ago. What are you doing?"

He gave a small "Oh" and looked back into the machine, brow creasing. "Well… I… I thought I saw something in there, but it was just a sock, then it moved and now it's gone."

I nodded and shot Naruto a look warning him to laugh. _Wrong_ thing to do. "Uh-huh, sure it did. Well if it can leave then I'm sure it can come back. How bout you go sit down for a bit, yeah? Have you taken your medication?"

He nodded and took one last confused look at the washing machine before striding past us, completely ignoring Naruto. I frowned. He never seemed to change, despite his medication which he claimed he always took. Then again, in the last few months he'd only had one lapse of 'I'm a cold-blooded murderer and now I'm gonna kill you too', so maybe they were working… I'd have to ask his doctor about it.

I followed Itachi out, grabbing Naruto's arm and dragging him after me.

"Hey, you all right?" He whispered.

I nodded. "Fine, just thinking."

He shrugged and shouted a loud, "Yo, Itachi! How's things?" once we got to the lounge room where my brother was now sprawled out on the couch, a hand covering his eyes.

He opened his fingers to glare through the gap at my loud boyfriend and raised an eyebrow, turning his gaze to me. "What's that thing doing here?"

I shrugged and sat on the chair opposite while Naruto sat on the ground and leaned against my legs. "He's staying here for a while."

That got his attention. He sat up straight with a sudden jolt, hands dropping to grip the couch cushions with white knuckles. His eyes went wide and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he said, "But… But he can't!"

I cocked an eyebrow and Naruto folded his arms. "Why not?"

"Be-Because… you're _dating_!" He squirmed a little and I'm Naruto was raising an eyebrow along with me. "That's… no way, that's –"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, he'll take the spare room."

Itachi shook his head frantically. "I don't trust you! What it – what if you _do_ something?"

Naruto put a hand to his mouth and coughed out a not-so-well-disguised, "Gaara."

Lucky Itachi wasn't switched on enough to realise, but I kicked him anyway. He giggled under his breath and looked back at me, sticking his tongue out. I rolled my eyes and ignored him, aware that Itachi was in the room and it was antics like this that usually led us to other antics which in turn left us a little… breathless.

"See what I mean?!" Itachi shook an incriminating finger at us. "With you two being so _chummy_ and all I don't think I'll be able to sleep at night."

"Then go stay with Kisame. Problem solved."

"But I can't leave you on your own!"

Naruto fidgeted at my feet and I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Look, if it's too much trouble I'll just go home."

I scowled. "No you won't."

"It's not that bad."

"Yes it is."

"But it's too much trouble to -"

"No it's not."

"I can't just invade on you guys."

"Yes you can."

He twisted his neck to glare at me, but I didn't look at him.

"He's staying, Itachi. Separate rooms or whatever, but I don't want him to go home."

Naruto elbowed me. "Way to be super overprotective."

"Shuddup."

Itachi frowned at us in turn and released his grip on the cushions, sinking back into the couch with a hand on his chin in thought. "I'll have to buy some locks… and check on you in the mornings… I'll have to make sure the homework is getting done, too… hm…"

Paranoid, much? I mean sure, we were teenagers with raging hormones coursing through our bodies, but that didn't mean we were going to jump each other the second the lights went out and go have wild hot man sex.

I glanced at Naruto and raked my eyes down his neck.

… It'd be one hell of a challenge though.

"It's only gonna be for a couple of days, no need to stress."

Itachi waggled a finger at me. "No, no, if there's trouble at home then this could be a common occurrence."

"I'll just go to Kiba's, its fine."

I growled low in my throat and he smacked me on the leg again. "Jeez, calm down, you. You're scaring me."

I pursed my lips, the thought of him staying with Kiba for a prolonged period of time seriously not sitting well with me. Whatever the situation with Dog Boy and Shino, I still wouldn't trust him further than I could throw him.

Suddenly Itachi stood, an arm thrust in the air. "Okay! I will allow it! But just this once, and _no funny business_."

I rolled my eyes and stood up with him, tipping Naruto forwards with my legs at the action. "That's rich coming from you."

Itachi's hands came to rest on his hips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Kisame, maybe?"

"Now that is an entirely different matter!"

"No it's not."

"Yes it-"

"Okay, whatever. No fooling around while you're here, stay in our own rooms, do our work, got it."

Naruto finally gathered his feet under him and stood as well, nodding in agreement. "Good, you can learn to keep your hands to yourself."

I widened my eyes at him, completely shocked and not afraid to show it. "Says _you_!"

* * *

I winced at the screeching beep hammering itself into my skull and slammed a hand down on my alarm to shut it up. I rolled onto my back with a grunt and covered my face with an arm, sighing into it and cursing school to the fiery depths of hell.

Mornings, mornings, mornings. Yuk, yuk, yuk.

Naruto and I had kept our promise and stayed away from each other, though that didn't stop up from staying up late and waiting for Itachi to go to bed before we started the forbidden 'funny business'. Well at least we didn't invade each other's rooms. That was something to pride ourselves on.

I mentally prepared myself for the cold and threw the doona back, standing up groggily and gathering my things to head for the shower. I paused outside Naruto's room, listening for any signs of life. Nope, as expected, only the heavy snores of someone deeply asleep could be heard. I smiled to myself. It'd be funny watching him scramble out the door in an hour.

Once showered, I stared into the mirror for a long time. Up or down, up or down, up or…? Down. Naruto said I looked better with my hair down, so down it was, no matter how much it pained me to do it.

Well, it saved me a good twenty minutes, at least.

I stepped into the kitchen after admiring myself in the mirror for a little while, reluctantly admitting that okay, maybe it didn't look _too_ bad, and came face to face with a blank Itachi.

I side-stepped around him, recognising _that_ look straight away, and hid my head in the fridge until he left. I so wasn't dealing with the Bitch Brother today. I was just finishing my plate of cereal as Itachi threw a cold "Catch," over his shoulder and left for… somewhere. I assumed the theatre, but I couldn't remember when their last performance was so couldn't be sure. If there really was only one to go then I seriously hoped he was going to find another job, because there was no way we could both live off my crappy wages without diving into the funds from our parents.

I winced a little at that thought. I didn't know how much longer they would last once I left, as I didn't think they cared too much whether Itachi lived or died.

"_Kuso_!"

Naruto's loud curse brought me out of my depressive mindset, making me smirk faintly. Hadn't he ever heard of an alarm? I glanced at the clock as he came barrelling into the kitchen, tugging his shirt over his head.

Boy that kid had nice abs. All the fighting with Jiraiya paid off, that was for sure. Nuh-uh, mind back on the task at hand, Sasuke. Getting this kid's nice arse to school.

"Fifteen minutes. Get moving."

He pouted and whined at me, shirt now fully on and hands clasped in front of him. "But I haven't eaten!"

"Grab an apple."

"That won't keep me going!"

"It'll do."

"I have to eat though!"

I sighed. "Whatever, I don't care. I'm going."

He made small whimpering noises and looked back and forth between the door and the fruit bowl. I rolled my eyes at him and reached out for an apple and two bananas, pushing them into his hands.

"Eat these on the way or be late. Your choice."

He gave me a funny look, pissed himself laughing and headed out the door ahead of me.

"What?" I asked, slipping on my shoes and jacket and following him out.

He turned to grin back at me before shrugging on his own coat, stuffing his bananas into his pockets, and taking my hand. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

He laughed again. "We've been together, what – four, five days? Depending on how you look at it. Already we're acting like a married couple. It's sorta weird and hilarious at the same time." He tilted his head to the side in contemplation, spinning the apple around in his fingers. "And _man_ you're a bitch in the mornings."

I tapped him lightly on the head with my free hand as he took a big bite of the apple, a huge grin still on his face. It grew even wider when he swallowed the bite.

"Yes! A good one!"

* * *

I tapped my thumbs on the desk in metalwork class, waiting impatiently for the new teacher to arrive. I'd never been in this room before, never having taken a subject in here, and, well… I was impressed. Which is saying a lot, really.

The room was _enormous_! There were two huge rough wooden desks occupying half the room, each seating roughly ten people with chairs all around the outside. The other half, the back half, held all the equipment – anvils, buffers, drill presses, soldering irons, you name it and it was there.

But I wasn't interested in that, honestly. I was more focused on deciding the gender of the person sitting opposite me.

They had heir head bent down and were staring at their hands, long black hair falling over their face. It looked so much like a girl on first glance, but then I looked closer and there was something off that I couldn't pick.

"What do you think?" Gaara whispered in my ear, clearly talking about the androgynous person.

I shrugged. "Dunno."

"Neji swears it's a boy."

I snorted. "With hair like that?"

"You can't talk."

A hand automatically shot up to smooth my hair down at the back. I'd been doing it all day, even though Naruto repeatedly told me it looked perfectly fine. I frowned and forced my hand back on the table, observing the 'it' in front of us. I shook my head.

"No, definitely a girl."

"Why don't we just ask?"

There was a frantic girlish whisper from Gaara's other side as Hinata said, "Guys, y-you can't do that! It – It's rude!"

Shikamaru leaned in from my side. "Besides, it's a guy anyway."

Neji appeared behind Gaara and Hinata, slinging an arm around each of their shoulders. "Told ya."

"I still say a girl," I whispered back.

Gaara and Hinata both nodded. "Me too."

The door opened and we turned to see Ino and Tenten, who spotted us all bunched together conspicuously and headed straight for us. Tenten came between me and Shikamaru and raised her eyebrows at us all.

"Who's murder are we plotting?"

Hinata frantically made shushing motions with her hand, putting her finger up to her mouth and doing a funny thing with her eyebrows that probably only girls could understand. It left all of us baffled, anyway.

Neji gestured to the person across the table that seemed completely oblivious to us. Well, that's what we all hoped. "Guy or girl?"

Ino snorted and flicked her hair back in a very well-see-_here_ type way, reminiscent of Sakura. "Girl, clearly."

Tenten took a brief glance and nodded. "Of course it is. What's the issue?"

Neji was about to speak but was interrupted by Hinata stuttering out ridiculously quietly, "C-Can we not… not discuss this h-here?" She jerked her head meaningfully in the boy-girl's direction.

"Yeah guys, don't be rude," Tenten scolded. Her voice rose back to its normal high-pitched level. I always wondered why I found Ino's voice annoying and not hers. "More importantly, have you all heard?"

"What?" Neji asked over Shikamaru's loud yawn.

"Apparently the new teacher is some super-hot young guy!" Ino supplied.

My head snapped up in her direction, an eyebrow raised. That was one way to get my complete and undivided attention. "Care to share?"

She smirked at me and flicked her hair again. "Yeah, he's from like, some art company or something that's falling in a heap so he's come to teach. I overheard a couple of teachers in the office talking, and Kurenai-sensei was ranting about how gorgeous he is. A 'stunning redhead', as she put it."

I looked down at the table in thought. An art company fallen in a heap, huh? Maybe Tsunade had been putting up for more than just Orochimaru… When did she get so nice and accommodating? I personally found it pretty hard to believe. Then again, if Jiraiya had anything to do with it he'd probably want his friend well taken care of. Personally, I don't know how _anyone_ could be friends with that freak.

The door opened again, interrupting my thoughts and this time admitting the teacher. And boy, Kurenai had never been more correct in her life.

Short red hair, a mixture of dark and light depending on which angle the light hit it, and intense blue eyes to contrast. His skin was perfectly smooth and pale and he looked not a day over twenty, yet had an air of commanding creepiness about him to make me think he _definitely_ belonged with the Akatsuki group that my brother was in. No doubt about it.

But still, there was no denying that he was gorgeous. Nowhere near as gorgeous as Naruto of course, but if he could make mine, Gaara's, Neji's _and_ Shikamaru's jaws drop simultaneously then he most certainly had something going for him.

"Right, everyone sit down and shut up."

Well that was a tad surprising. I don't think any of us were expecting such a harsh voice. Ino, Tenten and Neji hurried to their places around the table while everyone else in the class sat up a little straighter. Gaara narrowed his eyes. I swallowed audibly.

"My name is Sasori but call me that and I won't be happy. I know all there is to know about making intricate works with metal, so ask me anything you want unless it's a stupid question. If you're late to class more than three times in the one term I'll be _incredibly _pissed off and you'll get an after-school detention. Get three detentions in the one term and you'll get a class suspension. Don't use the equipment if I'm not in the room, don't answer back, do as I tell you and we'll all be better off in the end. I may be young but that doesn't mean you can mess with me."

No shit.

"Now, roll call."

He whipped out the roll and slammed it into the desk. Everyone flinched. Yes, me included. He wasn't scary just… very surprising, to say the least. He called out each of our names in turn, and one by one we all turned our heads to the new kid, waiting to see if it was a boy or a girl. It was definitely a girl. It _had_ to be. No guy could have a body or hair like that.

But the roll was finished and the boy-girl hadn't answered to any of the names.

Sasori eyed them coldly. "And who are you?"

Boy or girl, boy or girl…?

"… Haku."

Crap, couldn't tell by the voice or the name. What a let down.

Sasori raised a condescending eyebrow at them and lifted the roll to take a second look. "You're not on here," he said, looking up again. "And that means I don't know what gender you are. To save further confusion on my part, are you a male or female?"

No points for tact, this guy, but at least he straight out asked what we'd all wanted to. Damn Hinata and her politeness.

They looked up, and my _arse_ that could ever be a boy! She had a small round face, big dark eyes with full, girly lips and a shy smile to top it all off. Everything about her screamed 'girl!'

She gave a small laugh. "I… I'm a boy. Sorry for the confusion, I've always been very feminine."

The silence was deafening.

Everyone's jaws dropped or their eyes widened – except Neji, Shikamaru, Gaara and myself, of course. Yes I was surprised, but I had enough control over my face to stop myself looking incredibly stupid, and Gaara was just… Gaara.

Sasori simply nodded and dropped the class list back on the table, whipping out a marker and sort of gliding over to the whiteboard. "This is what we're doing this class, don't think you can slack off just because it's the first lesson of the semester."

He paused while he wrote a couple of lines on the board. No one dared talk. I blew my fringe out of my eyes.

"You will be sketching pendant designs today. Apparently you're not allowed to make anything that could be used as or resembles a weapon. I personally don't care and in fact find it more entertaining, but there you go, school rules. So, have ten sketches at the end of this lesson and we can all go home content and in one piece. Go!"

There was a mad rush to grab sketch books and pens out, even Shikamaru was in on it, though to be honest he was moving at about a tenth of the speed everyone else was. Neji, Gaara and I didn't move at all, glancing at each other in turn. Gaara folded his arms in his standard I-_really_-don't-like-that-guy way, Neji regarded us both with his cool blank look, and I simply narrowed my eyes slightly.

We both knew exactly what the other meant, of course. Gaara was simple to understand, Neji not so much, but I gathered he wanted to talk about this new teacher at a more appropriate time, and I was silently saying that I could tell something was fishy about this 'teacher'.

I vaguely wondered how many more 'teacher's Tsunade had temporarily employed just to make Orochimaru and probably Jiraiya happy.

"You, what's your name?"

I looked up to see the question directed at me. "Uchiha."

Sasori cocked an eyebrow. "Sasuke?"

I nodded, waiting for it. "Huh, thought you looked familiar." And there we go. Being associated with my brother yet again. No one ever wanted to know who I was because of something I did, but because I resembled my brother closely. Well, apparently I did. I personally couldn't see it at all, but Naruto assured me we were the spitting image of each other.

"And you, get your stuff out. You don't want to get on my bad side on the first class, trust me."

Oh. Not exactly one of the most intelligent things to say to Gaara once he's decided he doesn't like you.

My red-headed pal lifted his chin, keeping his arms crossed, and said with a sense of finality, "I'll make that judgement for myself, _sensei_."

Sasori chuckled nastily and came to stand directly behind Gaara, practically breathing down his neck. "Go for your life, kid." (1)

* * *

Kakashi-sensei scratched the back of his head, his visible eye continuously darting back to the dark green book lying in wait on his desk. We all knew what it was, oh yes we did. That, dear friends, was porn. I have already told you Kakashi is a pervert.

God, are we surrounded by pervs?

"Well I have your reports here… Come get them yourself, I have better things to do."

The class gave a collective snort and he waved his hands to shush us. I rested my head on my arms as everyone rushed to collect their mid-year reports, and soon heard a loud _thud_ as someone sat heavily on the table. The sound was magnified by some huge number because my ear was pressed to the tabletop, making cringe a little.

A hand ruffled my hair and I looked up with a scowl, only softening it a little when I saw it was Naruto.

"Aw, don't look so grumpy. I got your report for you, here." He chucked an envelope down in front of me and I eyed it off before shrugging and putting my head back down.

"What, you not gonna look at it?"

I shook my head.

"Fine," he huffed. "I'll do it."

I shrugged again and heard the swish as he picked it up, followed by the sound of pages flipping.

"A+ A+ A+ A+ oh no, just an A for art, a-and A+ for history and sport. Sound about right to you?"

I nodded and smirked when he hit me lightly on the head, making tutting noises from above.

"You may be on a par with me where self-love is concerned."

"Trust me, that kid loves himself more than anyone ever could."

I snapped my head up with narrowed eyes at Tenten's voice, and was answered by a girly grin and peace sign. "What do you know?" I scoffed.

"What _don't_ I know?"

Naruto clapped and grinned madly. "Touché, my friend, touché indeed."

I rolled my eyes and pushed my head back onto the table, mumbling sexist insults under my breath, just because I knew it would piss her off. Sadly Naruto had taken that moment to announce loudly that there was a new kid in town, and everyone started talking at once, effectively drowning me out.

Grr…

There was a knock at the door and everyone's heads turned, several people doing a double-take. I narrowed my eyes a little. It wasn't often our principal got out of her office to come and visit us.

She opened the door to a suddenly silent classroom, almost every pair of eyes belonging to a male dropping straight to her chest. Honestly, you'd think she'd try to cover them up just a little.

"Oi, Kakashi. I'm taking Naruto for a second."

He nodded absently and lifted a hand in acknowledgement, making a flicking motion to shoo them out the door. He didn't look up from his porn book once. Huh, he was usually one of the worst when it came to Tsunade's lack of decency.

Naruto glanced down at me and shrugged, pushing himself off the table and slouching over to his waiting Aunt. As soon as he was close enough she reached out and yanked him out the door with her. The class steadily resumed its noise as I held my breath, watching the conversation with a sense of dread.

Tsunade was waving her hands around passionately while Naruto shrugged and looked down at the ground occasionally. He said something back and she shook her head at him, throwing a hand in the air when he got mad at whatever she'd said. Naruto folded his arms and got that cocky stance as she went into another rant, and in the end Naruto just left her there, walking back into the classroom and slamming the door against her.

He made his way straight to me and sat down heavily. I didn't need to ask what it was about.

Tsunade came back into the classroom. "Don't walk away when I'm speaking to you! You get back out here right now!"

Naruto shrugged. "No thanks, hag."

I smirked. Naruto was such a smartarse. By bringing the argument into the classroom he made sure that she couldn't say anything too nasty or someone might report it, and it saved him from continuing the fight because he knew she wouldn't carry on in front of her students. She did have _some_ sense of teacher-student code of conduct. Not much, but some.

She put her hands on her hips and glared, the entire class going instantly silent. "I'll see you at home, brat." And spun on her heel, waltzing out of the classroom with her long green jacket billowing out behind her.

Everyone's heads instantly turned to Naruto, who just fake-grinned at them all and said, "Hey Kakashi-sensei! How's the porn going for ya?"

* * *

"Naruto, what was that about?"

"Hey, we start Fencing next Thursday, don't we?"

"Dobe…"

"Guh, I hope it isn't one of those pathetic classes where we're not allowed any contact. That'd suck."

"Naruto!"

He sighed and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "What?"

I turned so I was facing him and put one hand against the wall next to his head, leaning in and glaring. "What the hell was that about in homeroom?"

"You're very close."

I clenched my jaw.

He sighed. "Nothing. It was about nothing."

"I don't believe you."

"Then don't."

I sighed. "Look, I want to know what's happening. You let me in this far, you can't shut me out now."

"Jeez, quit acting like we're married, would you?"

"Naruto! Stop joking around. You know this is serious."

"And stop trying to be my mother."

I sighed and took my hand away, turning my back on him. "Fine, if that's the way you want to be then whatever. You can't say I didn't try."

A hand on my arm stopped me from walking away, and Naruto came to stand in front of me. Then all of a sudden he was kissing me like the world was about to end and he'd pushed me back against the wall, both hands gripping my waist painfully tight. Well, that was a tad surprising.

I kissed him back just as hard and a little voice in the back of my mind scolded me for putting hormones before fixing my boyfriend's problems, but one little flick from Naruto's tongue was enough to shut it up.

Time passed and he must have finally realised that we were still at school, because he pulled back with a tiny smile.

"Later, yeah?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, whatever, I'll explain all that later as well."

"Care to explain anything to _me_ later?"

Both our heads snapped to the right and Naruto made a little squeaking sound in his throat as he jumped away from me, smoothing down his jacket.

Kiba was currently standing with one hand propping himself up against the wall while the other was on his hips, a mixture between shock and a motherly warning look on his face.

"I – uh – hmm…" Naruto put a hand to his chin and looked from me to the Inuzuka, trying to decide what to do.

"Anyone?"

I shrugged and pulled my coat a little tighter around me, stepping away from the wall and Dog Boy's accusing gaze. I glanced across to Naruto. "Meet you at home?"

He nodded absently, still wondering what to do. "Yeah… yeah, okay."

I touched his shoulder in what I hoped was a reassuring way as I walked past, and headed out of the school with a frown. I was sure Naruto had his own reasons for keeping things quiet to his best friend, but it made me a little uneasy. Maybe that meant Kiba still liked him? I bloody hoped not. I'd been wanting and fighting for this for far too long to have him come in and wreck it all over again.

Although I suppose Naruto not telling him was just like me not telling Sakura. I didn't really know why, I just didn't. I could've called her any time since it'd happened and told her all about it, but I guess I just didn't trust her.

I let my thoughts wander all the way down to a couple of streets away from home, where a voice interrupted me as I was pushing my enveloped report into a post box, sending it off for my parent's scrutiny.

"Sasuke!"

I looked up from my meandering thoughts, and oh there she is. I lifted a hand in greeting as Sakura came up to me, bag swinging along beside her.

"What's up?"

I shrugged. "What are you doing out here?"

"Work called me in so I'm on my way over. I figured out a short cut. If I go past your place and then that road near Shikamaru's, I get there five minutes faster."

I rolled my eyes. "And it's taken you how long to figure that out?"

She huffed at me. "Shut up. So what's been happening? You never told me what happened with Naruto. Although you should know, I'm not stupid. You don't have to be Shikamaru to know there's something going on now. Why didn't you tell me?"

I shrugged again and scuffed at the ground. "I don't know."

"Well I'm very disappointed. After all that work I put in and oh I bet you told Shika, didn't you?" She narrowed her eyes and looked at me sharply.

"Yeah."

"I'm always the bloody last to know with you, aren't I?

"I didn't have a chance to tell you." Liar.

"So…?"

I sighed. "Nothing, really. He just said he wanted to give it a shot because he realised he was being stupid with the Kiba problem, don't squeal, so now I guess we're together. I said don't squeal. Although… I've been meaning to ask what you said to him while I was away."

She bit her thumb and grinned stupidly at me, trying her utmost not to do what I warned her against, and shrugged at my last sentence.

"Nothing."

I narrowed my eyes in warning and was about to order her to tell me like I always did, when I realised that maybe this wasn't the best plan of attack. So instead I flicked my fringe and shrugged, feigning indifference. "Okay."

She tripped a little with her steps and looked across at me. "You what now?"

I flicked my blank eyes over to her. "I said okay."

A few blinks and a completely stunned look, then she gave me that oh-_I_-see-what's-going-on-now face, a hand on her hip.

"Oh don't give me that look. I know on the inside you're practically squirming with anticipation."

I sighed. Sometimes she could be really perceptive, damnit. "If I'm 'squirming in anticipation', why don't you just say it?"

She grinned and kicked at a stone on the ground, tucking her hands into her coat pockets. "'Cause it's fun."

I groaned quietly and scowled at her, pretence shattered. "Sakura…"

"What?"

"I'll -"

She snorted, rudely interrupting me. "And I'll punch your lights out if you come anywhere near me. You know I will."

I said nothing, silently admitting defeat. It was true. "What did you say to him?"

"I told you, I didn't say anything!"

"Why do you keep denying it?"

She shrugged. "Is it really that important? Can't you just sit back and enjoy the results of having the most manipulative girl as your best friend?"

"You _what_? You manipulated him? I told you I didn't want you interfering because I wanted him to come to me on his own!" I gave myself a mental scolding for getting on that damn plane and leaving Naruto vulnerable to attack from the crazy pink girl as well as Dog Breath.

"I didn't _manipulate_ him, as such. I just gave him a little… push."

"And what 'push' was that?"

"Nope. Not telling."

I smirked, suddenly getting it. "Are you arguing for the sake of arguing?"

Her eyes darted straight to mine and she got that whiny tone to her voice as her expression changed to pathetic and desperate. "Ye-es! Ino's so wrapped up in Choji because apparently he's just spilled the big 'three words' so she doesn't talk to me any more, and I didn't see you for two whole weeks so I had no one to argue with!"

"Gaara?"

She raised her eyebrows. "I am _not_ arguing with him."

I shrugged, seeing her point. You'd have to be either Temari or insane to argue with him willingly. I glanced up, seeing a familiar large crack in the pavement at my feet, and noticed that we were at my house already.

"All right, whatever, get to the point. We can argue some other time when I can be bothered wasting my breath on you, but right now I have to get inside to the madman and you have to get to work. Stop dragging it on and explain."

She grinned. "There we go, there's the bitchy Sasuke we all know and love."

I raised an eyebrow, not bothering to dignify that with a response, and propped myself up against our letterbox, waiting for her to continue with her pathetic explanation of how she forced Naruto to come to me but didn't really force him because she wouldn't do something like that.

Pfft.

"We-ell… I dunno, just thought he was being a bit crappy to you so I had a stern word to him. You know, 'cos you were the one doing all the work and he just sat back and let you, thinking he was fine and didn't need to try. I got a little frustrated with him for that and told him exactly what I thought."

"Which was…?"

"That he's an arse."

I snorted. "Right, thanks."

She laughed. "No, you know what I mean. Because of Kiba he was getting confused and hurting you, drawing everything out and making you work harder for it. I told him that you'd done so much for him by changing and weren't always comfortable with it, but you'd kept it up anyway because you love him an-"

I tried not to let my eyes widen too much and held my hands up, waving them in front of her face to shut her up. "Whoa now, hold up a second. You said what now?"

She put her hands on her hips and turned to face me, getting that don't-make-me-repeat-myself-just-because-you're-stubborn look. "I said that you love him."

"And who are you to be the judge of that?"

"I'm a girl. Enough said."

"So?"

"So I have a sixth sense about these things."

I shook my head and stepped onto the front garden path, turning my back on her and calling over my shoulder, "_This_ is why I don't like girls. You think you know everything."

"Oh but we _do_!"

"Obviously not."

Oh you're so right, Sakura. Hah XP

* * *

**(1)** This whole section may seem a bit pointless, but I'm going to try (probably in vain) to bring Sasori and Haku into the story a lot more, so I wanted to spend a little while introducing them. And also to establish that there's still a friendship/connection between Gaara, Neji and Sasuke, because that seemed to fade out unintentionally. Sorry if it was boring! –dodges tomatoes-

Don't expect the 'I love you's any time soon, peeps. You should know by STTGR that I don't do things fast and try to keep it as realistic as possible, so this is all just Sakura being that sneaky cow we all know she is. In a good way, of course. Aah, so many things wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for her.

Aaaand... in these next few chapters I want anyone who has an idea to TELL ME! Anything you want to see in the story I will try my best to put in there! A particular mood of Itachi's (cos he's so much fun), somewhere you want them to go, even just one line you want someone to say or an awkward situation you want me to put them in, TELL! Please? It adds to the entertainment and your enjoyment XD

Review! Please? XD


	4. Super Sexy Sasuke

Yo all, this is a deep chapter for Naruto. Sorry if it offends or makes some people uncomfortable, you don't have to read it. Skip down until you get to the divider line thingy and read from there if you want. I don't mind, I can understand.

I'm pretty sure of the direction of this story now… I only had a rough idea before, so it's kind of exciting to know what's going to happen for sure XP.

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

4. SUPER SEXY SASUKE

"Yeah, she's kinda mad at me."

"For staying here?"

"No, for not telling her. She doesn't care if I leave, just as long as she knows where I am. Apparently Snake Man said he didn't know where I was, the bastard."

"So you have to go back tonight?"

He shook his head. "I don't have to, but I probably should."

I frowned, absently running my thumb up and down his neck as he tucked himself tighter in next to me on the armchair. It would have been uncomfortable, but the chair was quite large and I'm not embarrassed to admit I'm small for my age. Not height wise, just width wise. And not _there_ either, in case you were wondering.

"Did she say anything about Shizune?"

"…Yeah."

I stayed quiet, waiting for him to go on. I'd learned already that he never spilled if you pushed him.

"She… she ranted at me for the hundredth time not to make crap up just because I didn't like someone and not to drag other people into it."

"So Shizune knows?"

He snorted. "The only way she couldn't know is if she was blind and deaf."

My eyes widened. "You mean -?"

He nodded against my shoulder. "Yeah, about six months ago."

Oh…

I wrestled with myself, wanting to ask but not wanting to pry too much, then decided that I'd go as insane as my brother if I didn't know and so took the plunge.

"Naruto, you… you haven't told me exactly… you know."

He pushed himself up on my chest and looked at me, expression completely devoid of emotion for once. "You want to know what he's done."

I nodded warily. That wasn't a question at all.

He sighed and sat up, shifting so he was sitting on my lap properly, back against my chest. He said nothing for a long time and I got increasingly nervous, so attempted to start him off.

"Has he…?"

"He hasn't raped me, if that's what you're asking. Well, at least not in the sense you're thinking of."

"So…?" I was leaving a lot of questions unfinished today.

"So what?"

"Well he has to have done _something_."

He nodded and I could hear his bitter smile through his voice. "Oh he has."

I put my arms around his waist and squeezed tight in a sort of hug, letting him know that I was here, just like I tried to do in our first drama lesson except this time he didn't push me away. I decided to approach it from a different angle.

"Was it hard telling Tsunade?"

He laughed shortly. "No, I just shouted it at her because she was being a cow and not listening to me. It was about a year after it started and I decided something had to be done about it."

"What about Kiba?"

He shook his head. "No, not really. It all just sort of tumbled out accidentally with him, but it was okay because I knew he'd just get mad and shout but at the end of the day he wouldn't judge me and he'd still be there."

"And I won't be?"

He looked back at me sharply, brow creased. "Huh?"

"Why can't you tell me? Because you think I'm going to judge you or ditch you?"

His face resumed its blankness as he settled against my chest again. "No, I can't tell you because I know you're gonna get worried. With Tsunade I already knew she wouldn't care or believe me, but she had to know. Shizune found out for herself, Jiraiya doesn't know, and Kiba was mostly accidental. Its different telling you because… I dunno, because it'll affect you. I don't want you to freak or worry or do something stupid like you're bound to do."

I raised an eyebrow even though he couldn't see it. "That's a bit hypocritical coming from you."

He reached back and hit me on the arm. "Shut up, I'm trying to be deep here."

"Sorry, sorry, do continue."

He 'hmph'ed and wriggled a little, getting more comfortable. "Promise you won't get mad?" His voice sounded small, like a child being scolded.

I sighed. "No."

"Promise you won't do anything stupid?"

"No."

"… Promise to still be here?"

I nodded. "Yes."

There was a short silence before he spoke again.

"Well, when I was in year seven Orochimaru moved in, only a year or so after I started living with Tsunade and Jiraiya. Shizune was already there. The first month or so was fine and I thought he was pretty cool. You know, teaching me new stuff, buying me treats, looking after me, all that crap. Then it got a bit out of hand and… he sort of… Well, let's just say that Orochimaru was here –" He put his hands up so that one was higher than the other, and shook the higher one to indicate that's what he was talking about, then moved the lower one. "- and I was here."

I tightened my grip around his waist and he dropped his hands, walking his fingers up and down my arm as he went on. I tried not to get too angry – that was something I was never good at when it came to Naruto.

"It happened a few more times after that whenever everyone went out, sometimes, you know, the other way around. Then… then Shizune came home early once and it all went out the window." He huffed and paused a bit before continuing.

"She'd never let him stay at home alone with me and tried telling Tsunade but chickened out every time. He found ways around it, obviously, and… you know, wandered in during the night. Shizune doesn't know about that. He always –" he curled his fists into balls, clenching and unclenching them. "He always made sure I kept quiet. You know, this is really awkward. Do I have to keep going?"

He twisted his head to look at me, and I couldn't decide on his expression. It was sad, confused, angry and worried all at once.

I kissed his forehead. "No, don't worry about it."

"But I'm okay, really. Like, it hasn't bothered me as much as you'd think it would because I'm just not that type of person. The thing that really gets to me about this is that Tsunade doesn't believe me so I can't just… just get _away_ from him."

I nodded. "But I can still kill him, right?"

He laughed and hit me again. "No, no, Jiraiya wouldn't be happy about that."

I snorted. "Like I care."

He didn't answer and we sat in silence for a while, me contemplating all the possible ways of killing a paedophile, and him… I had no idea. For once I couldn't tell.

I rested my cheek against his head. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing, really."

"Do you want to go somewhere?"

He suddenly pushed against me and stood up, a genuine grin on his face. "We, my dearest teme, haven't gone out anywhere yet. It's Friday night and we're both inside talking about depressing things, and that's not how it should be. We should be getting smashed off our faces and dancing with hot girls in some fancy bar off the coast of Spain."

I raised an eyebrow and he paused a moment before giving a little shudder. I smirked, standing up with him and smoothing out my clothes from where he'd been crushing them for the last hour or so. I stared straight into his eyes.

His expression flickered briefly to that of nervousness before smoothing out and getting that hell-_yes_-I'm-sexy look.

I didn't say anything as I slid my arm around his waist and drew small circles on the small of his back, slowly leaning down. I stopped painfully close to his lips and waited for him to come that little bit closer, closing the gap.

Instead he pulled back and bypassed my lips entirely, starting at just below my ear and kissing a line down my jaw incredibly slowly. But the anticipation only made it all the sweeter as he finally brought his lips to mine and we moved together softly.

His arms slinked around my neck, drawing me in closer, and mine tightened around his waist. He tilted his head to the side and opened his mouth to me, letting me explore freely. It was getting familiar now, and I was memorising all the places that made him moan against me.

But nothing compared to when his hands slipped under my t-shirt just as his tongue touched mine, and that was around about when I melted into a puddle. Every single time, without fail, he did that to me.

And I think it was just him, because Gaara was good, but he wasn't what I wanted. Naruto was what I wanted and finally had, and so the experience was ten times more amazing.

Just wait until we made use of his large bed…

I didn't even bother telling myself to keep my thoughts in check, because as he pushed me back down onto the chair with that fiery look in his eye, I knew it was impossible.

He pushed his legs to either side of my hips and descended on my neck as I gripped his hips, pushing him down against me and making us both moan. His fingers made patterns across my stomach and I tilted my head back, closing my eyes in pleasure as he worked at my neck.

His hands slowly ran up from my stomach to my hair, threading themselves in the shorter section at the back. Mine ran up and under his t-shirt to roam along his chest. We were both avoiding putting them where they were really needed, knowing that we couldn't get too heated when Itachi was due to come home soon, but God it was tempting.

He finally let go of my neck and I accidentally let a sound of distress escape, only to be shut up as he kissed me on the lips again, putting a little more force on it that before. I rocked my hips upwards a little and he gasped against me, letting me roam his mouth a second time.

He's having such an uke day, I thought as I smirked.

"Oh God – what the – _ew_!"

We both broke apart instantly and snapped our heads in the direction of the front door. Itachi was standing with his back to us, hands up in front of his face and shaking his head frantically.

"I said _no_ funny business while he was here! I knew you couldn't be trusted!" He slowly turned around, hands still over his eyes, and peeked through a split in his fingers to check if it was safe.

I scowled at him as Naruto tried to decide between being mortified and laughing his arse off, choosing to bury his face into my neck. "Oh, what about that time Kisame was over and you just happened to be having sex on the couch? Does that ring any bells?"

Naruto's head snapped up, narrowly missing a collision with my own, and he stared at me with wide blue eyes, entirely speechless.

Itachi turned his back on us and went into the kitchen, shouting out, "At least I'm old enough! And could you _please_ get off my brother while I'm here? I'd rather not throw up my lunch."

"Then go to your room or whatever."

"You're too friggin' _noisy_!"

"I deal with you and Kisame so you should be able to deal with this."

A loud 'Aaaargh!' came from the kitchen before Itachi ducked past in a blur, hurling himself down the hall with his hands covering his eyes. When we heard the door slam shut I turned back to a frightfully red Naruto with a playful smile.

"So… still want to get smashed with girls?"

He gave me a dopey grin and shook his head, running his fingers through my hair. "On second thoughts, let's see a movie."

I laughed and kissed him again briefly, waiting for him to get off my lap and pull me up after him. "What's on?"

He suddenly got a dreamy look on his face and closed his eyes. I eyed him worriedly. "Another old re-run. Battle Royale. Fujiwara Tatsuya. Mm…"

I tapped two fingers to his forehead. "Dobe, look at what's in front of you."

He snapped his eyes opened scoffed at me. "You may be hot, but he's hotter."

I huffed and put my hands on my hips in typical gay stance, blowing my fringe out of my eyes and glaring at him. "Oh is he now?"

"Well, not when you do that _thing_ you do with your hips…"

I narrowed my eyes at the poor cover-up and he looked at me sheepishly.

"Will chocolate make you feel better?"

"Will chocolate make me hotter?"

"It'll make you Super Sexy Sasuke."

"Oka-ay… When does it start?"

"In an hour."

Agh! Hair!

I made a dash for the bathroom, cursing him over my shoulder. "You like making me rush things, don't you? Lucky I'm already changed."

I heard him cackle from close behind me. "Of course I do, it makes you look a little ruffed up," he said as he disappeared into his temporary room, adding through the door, "Much better, if you ask me."

I rolled my eyes and rummaged around in the bathroom cupboard for a bit. I eventually found my gel and tugged it out from under the mess (Itachi forgot how to be tidy today), smiling slightly. It was nice hearing the occasional compliment from Naruto, even though I'd told him that I didn't like them nor want them. Of course, whenever people say that they actually mean the opposite, so I guess maybe he'd realised that. We really were acting like a married couple and it hadn't even been a week. Sort of scary, when you think about it.

I reached into the tub of goo and made to spike my hair up, having left it out today, only to find my hand stopped midway. I shifted my eyes to the left and glared at Naruto via the mirror.

He tutted and shook his head and did all those annoying motherly sounds before actually telling me what I was doing wrong. "Out."

"No."

"Out."

"No."

"Out."

"Fine."

He smirked, an expression that didn't quite suit him but at the same time looked damn sexy, and certainly succeeded in turning my knees into jelly.

"I win."

I shrugged. "Whatever, we're going." And pushed past him, taking a split second to notice that he was wearing his 'I would do me' t-shirt with a long sleeved black top underneath, along with those faded jeans that never failed to take my mind for a walk.

I shook my head and gave him a nice view of my butt as I made my way to the kitchen to write Itachi a note, perfectly aware of how well my black jeans clung to me. I'm sure he was aware of it too, but I didn't bother to check. I didn't have to, really. I mean come _on_, if you were me you wouldn't check either.

I glanced at the time as I reached the kitchen, did a quick calculation in my head and scrawled a half-arsed note about where we'd gone as I shouted over my shoulder, "We're going now or we'll be late. Hurry up."

A snort from right behind me made me start. "I got changed, that should be enough. It's not like I have to _try_ to look gorgeous anyway."

I chose to ignore that incredibly vain comment and slipped my shoes on at the front door. He knew he was right, oh he did. I waited for Naruto to follow me out, and was just about to close the door when I heard Itachi's voice from the inside, accompanied by a series of crashes, thuds and curses. He was still talking to me?

We both turned as the door was yanked open again and I groaned a little in frustration – we were cutting it fine enough as it was.

"Guys, guys, guys!"

"What's up?" Naruto flashed him a big grin and Itachi returned it enthusiastically for a second before changing his expression into one of intense concern.

"Can you come back inside? I want to talk to you."

I shook my head. "We've got fifteen minutes to get there. No time."

"But it's important!"

"Uh-huh, sure it is. Gotta go."

I turned to leave but Naruto stopped me, jerking his head in my brother's direction with a do-it-you-stubborn-prat look. "Should we just listen to him? We probably won't be too late – I've seen it before anyway, no biggie."

"I haven't."

"I'll fill you in. Fire away, Itachi!"

"But we're not going inside," I added. Damn Naruto and his persuasive powers. I just couldn't win with him.

My brother took a deep breath, readying himself for whatever rant he wanted to throw at us. "I… I just wanted to let you know that… well, it's difficult."

Naruto and I raised an eyebrow simultaneously. Huh?

Itachi waved his hands around, frustrated at himself for not being able to say what he meant. "Uh… I – I guess, just be careful, is all. Like, people stare, you know? And… And I don't want you to get hurt or angry or anything. You know what I mean? Don't… just be careful about what… about what you do."

I pieced the broken sentences together and made sense of it all, my heart suddenly clenching a little at the thought that he was looking out for me. It didn't happen very often.

And I was leaving him.

I mentally kicked myself for thinking of it again.

"Thanks, man. We'll take that into account."

Naruto reached out and squeezed Itachi's shoulder with a smile, and Itachi returned it again, nervous this time. He was watching me, eyes wide and expectant, clearly searching for something.

Naruto tugged on my sleeve to tell me we had to go, but I… I don't know. I was touched, really. God, when did I turn into such a softie? Itachi had gotten brotherly before, so why did it affect me now?

Because you're leaving.

Shut up, conscience.

He'd been worried about me before, but that was only because I was physically hurt. This time it was because he wanted to prevent me getting hurt emotionally, and… that meant a lot, it really did. It also made me angrier at myself for agreeing to the proposal. I had to remind myself for the thousandth time that it was what I wanted, and it was definitely the best for me. I wasn't going to give it up because Itachi suddenly started getting sentimental.

I didn't know what to do, so I tapped him on the nose in a strange brotherly show of affection, and turned my back on him without even saying thanks.

* * *

Okay, he was right.

Damn this guy's hot.

I stole a glance across at Naruto, who was sitting on the edge of his seat and biting his thumbnail in anticipation for the movie's climax. I smiled internally to myself at his enthusiasm despite having seen it already, and turned back to the screen when he gave a particularly violent jump and reached out to grip my arm.

Huh. Sook.

I jerked my arm out of his grip as some psycho guy in a suit shot up this boy and girl, and smacked him lightly on the back of the head for being so jumpy. He made a strange waving motion at me with his hand like he was telling me to go away, and made a sound of distress in the back of his throat.

I was more interested in the noises he was making than the actual movie, to be honest. Though it wasn't too bad, really, just that most of my concentration was taken up by the main male character.

Mmm…

Naruto made a few more noises, a few more people died, a girl a few rows in front squealed and buried her head in her boyfriend's shoulder, a middle-aged man on his own two seats away from us kept glancing across at me and Naruto, and some teacher on the screen was being disturbingly Orochimaru-like to the main female.

When he started yelling Naruto took my hand and squeezed it tight, whispering all sorts of inventive words to describe him under his breath.

That man looked at us again.

I smirked and was about to tug on Naruto's hand to make the pervert extremely uncomfortable, then remembered Itachi's warning and left it, letting go of him and sitting straight-backed in my seat, suddenly awkward.

It made me extremely frustrated.

How was I supposed to know what we could and couldn't do in public? I didn't know what was acceptable or not for two guys! Part of me thought 'oh screw them' but another part – my sensible part – said that it was best to just sit back and not cause a scene.

I wanted to, hell yeah I did, but… I had Naruto to think about now as well, and I didn't want to make him uncomfortable around me if I started stuff just to shove our relationship in pervert's faces.

For probably only the third time in my life, I put other people's worries before my own… It was a strange feeling.

A tug on my hair made me turn to look at Naruto, who was watching me with a concerned look, and it was then that I realised the movie was over and the lights on, people already making their way up the aisles to the doors.

"You look very serious."

I nodded and didn't say anything.

He raised an eyebrow and got right up close to my face. "Care to share?"

I shook my head this time and made to stand up, but he put a hand on my arm to stop me, face deadly serious now. "Sasuke…"

I glanced behind me and saw that the guy was still watching us, and looked back at Naruto meaningfully. He creased his brow and leant to the side to look around me at the guy, and I watched his face carefully.

He looked confused at first, and glanced back at me before returning his gaze to the man, then his face slowly got redder and redder until he suddenly stood up, grabbed my elbow and dragged me out of the cinema.

I would have laughed if I didn't have a heavy sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Naruto spun me around once outside in the street with a highly panicked look. "H-He… You think he saw us?"

I raised an eyebrow. "We didn't do anything."

He made a funny motion with his head that was a mixture between a shrug, a nod and a shake, and wrung tugged at his collar nervously. "No, I mean, _us_… _together_. You know!"

I shrugged. "And so what if he did?"

Naruto began to walk in the direction of the ice cream shop, motioning unnecessarily for me to follow. "No, you don't… you don't get it."

I would've asked him to explain but I really didn't have to. I was going to get one whether I asked or not, I was just more likely to get one sooner if I didn't ask. This boy works in mysterious ways…

He sat down on the bench outside the shop with a sigh, and I sat down next to him. I made to put my arm around his shoulders but he jerked away. I tried to keep the sudden feeling of hurt and rejection at bay, and reasoned it out with myself until I succeeded.

"It's like… all my life, I've only ever been judged. Straight away, that's all. I'm clearly not from here so they immediately judge me. Everyone loves Ino despite her being the same as me, and nobody dares make it obvious around Gaara, but with me… God, I sound like such a whinger."

I shook my head. "I live with Itachi. This is nothing."

He smiled weakly and sighed again, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I guess I'm just sick of it, you know, and now that… well, now that we're _together_, it's just another thing to add to my list of cons. Maybe it was too early for me to go out somewhere or something, I dunno, but I don't want more people talking about me and thinking they know me because of a few stupid things I've done or because I have a boyfriend."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and stood up with a sense of finality, striding straight into the ice cream shop as I told Naruto sternly to wait there. I returned soon after, a double-coned ice cream in my hand. I held it out to my depressed boyfriend, and smiled at the way his face instantly lit up and he stretched out for it.

I held it out of his reach like I would to a small child. "You've been moping too much and it's irritating the shit out of me. Lighten up."

He looked a little taken aback but I kept going anyway. He needed to be kicked back his normal ramen-loving, Sasuke-jumping, crazy super energetic self.

"Get over being judged. Everyone does it; it's human nature. Just remember that they're judging us together, not just you. I've had my fair share of judgements thanks to being associated with Itachi, so I know where you're coming from."

He dropped his hands into his lap and nodded sadly, eyes still stuck to the ice cream.

"And of course there'll be a limit to what we can do in public, there is for every couple. We just have to wait until everyone gets used to it. Konoha's not very big, you know, word travels fast and we'll find out who cares and who doesn't."

He nodded again and I frowned.

"You're just agreeing with me so you get to eat sooner."

He shook his head. "No, no, I know what you mean, I do. I just… can I eat and then talk?"

I gave him a sly smile and held the ice cream higher. "Not until you get me one."

His eyes finally moved from the food to me, eyebrows raised. "What? Why? You don't deserve one!"

I scoffed. "Oh really? After enduring your drooling over Fujiwara for two and a half hours, I think I deserve one for not jumping you and reminding you just who you're with."

He grinned and stood up, doing a quick scan of the area to make sure no one was around before slipping an arm around my waist. "Did the teme feel neglected?"

I scowled at him and jerked my head back when he leaned in for a kiss. "Maybe. Ice cream then home."

He lost his rejected look for one of sudden interest at the word. "'Home' meaning…?"

I laughed silently, nodding my head towards the ice cream shop. "Feed me first. Double chocolate."

* * *

"Shit man, it's late, I really have to go before the old hag chucks another ta-a-anty," Naruto yawned, nuzzling himself deeper into the crook of my neck.

I snorted. "Nice method of getting up."

He groaned and mumbled some incoherent things into my neck before grumbling out, "I don't wanna go though."

"Clearly."

"Can I stay here forever?"

"No." Yes!

"Please?"

"No."

"Bitch."

"Get up or I'll tickle you."

"I'm not ticklish."

I raised my eyebrows and scoffed in disbelief. There was no way he wasn't ticklish. I released my inner Master of Stealth and slowly brought my arm across to his waist, careful not to make a sound. When I was just close enough I shot my hand out, ready for the squirming and swearing and general commotion that came hand in hand with a severe tickling, but found my hand stopped just millimetres away.

"Nice try, teme."

I sat up a tiny bit so I could look at him, and saw that his eyes were closed and he was half asleep. Yet he'd still managed to stop me… Perhaps my skill level dropped as I got more and more tired. Or maybe Jiraiya had taught him exactly what I'd been taught. Which reminded me…

"We still haven't had our fight yet, dobe."

He shrugged. "Mph… eh."

"Didn't catch that."

"I said 'mph… eh'."

I nodded in mock understanding, inwardly rolling my eyes. "Mm, thought so. Now up."

He shook his head and protested with grumbling sounds again, and I decided to take drastic measures. I sat fully up suddenly, forcing him to roll to the side and fall off my bed with a satisfying _thud_. I smirked. He may have been my boyfriend now, but that definitely didn't mean I didn't enjoy seeing him in pain anymore.

"Up, bags, home. I want my house back."

He groaned loudly, a hand gripping his shoulder and a scowl set firmly in place. "And your brother called _me_ violent."

"Yes, yes he did."

He raised an eyebrow, asking me what I meant by that. I didn't actually know so I just shrugged and turned my back on him, walking out the door and expecting him to follow. When I got to the front door with no Naruto behind me, I frowned and headed back to my room to find him curled up in a ball on the ground where he had fallen, both arms tucked beneath his head in a makeshift pillow.

Uchiha's did not go soft-hearted over gorgeous blonde boys huddled up on the ground.

I grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at his face.

He sat up with a jerk, head darting from side to side. "Wh- uh- eh?"

"For God's _sake_, dobe, just get the hell up and out of my house."

He blinked slowly, realisation slowly dawning, and finally heaved himself up with a loud noise of complaint. "Okay, okay, I'm coming. Jeez, way to be super naggy."

"Yep whatever don't care get moving."

He stooped down as he passed through my door and picked up his bag, swinging it over his shoulder and giving me a calculating look. "Remind me again why I agreed to date you."

I rolled my eyes and put my hand on the small of his back, giving him a little push to get him moving once and for all. "Because I'm sexy."

He snorted and shook his head sadly as he made his way down the hall, turning to my brother as he got to the front door. "Hey, Itachi, thanks heaps for letting me stay, I really appreciate it. Sorry for all the trouble."

He dipped his head in respect as Itachi looked up from his latest art magazine, legs up on the coffee table and feet crossed over each other. He regarded Naruto as a grandfather would stare down a small child, and shrugged.

"No problem, just make sure you learn to sew next time, prune the roses properly, don't molest my brother so loudly, please stop eating the soap, don't sleep in the attic, stay _away _from the fish tank, and never, _ever_ sing in my presence ever again."

Naruto looked up sharply, clearly a little taken aback, and glanced over to me in disbelief. I could tell he was about to do one of Sakura's now-see-_here _rants about how amazing his singing voice really was, and shook my head in warning, motioning for him to open the door and flatly ignore my brother's strange but usual antics. Honestly, nothing surprised me anymore.

"Well, uh, yeah. Will do… Catch," Naruto stammered as he walked out the door and into the night. Itachi made a sniff of either approval or the opposite as I followed him, I couldn't tell. Probably disapproval, knowing him. He was in his snooty mood.

Once we were both outside and certain Itachi couldn't hear us, I let out a tiny laugh and Naruto turned to me with a desperate look, waving his hands around helplessly.

"What am I supposed to say to that?!"

I sighed and ruffled his hair, restraining from holding his hand. Believe it or not, his comment the other day made me a little self-conscious. "You either flat-out ignore him or nod and agree. Do not attempt to engage in conversation with the insane man. No, no."

Naruto let out a grown of frustration at the sky. "How do you do it? Honestly, he would drive _me_ insane with _his_ insanity! His mood swings are…" he made circular motions with his hands, trying to convey his meaning. "You know?"

I raised an eyebrow in clear indication of a negative and he sighed, ducking behind me and changing sides so that he could slip an arm around my waist without his bag getting in the way.

"I just think it's amazing that you're so close to normal and cool with everything, and he's so… phwoar."

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say. I could explain the whole I-really-want-to-kill-him-most-of-the-time or the I-hate-him-for-being-so-awesome-at-everything stuff, but that's far too much effort for so late at night. Granted it was only ten o'clock, but I opened the café tomorrow which meant yay for early starts.

"Hey, you don't even have an attic… _or_ a fish tank! What?!"

I laughed and shook my head, giving him a semi-nervous smile as his arm tightened around my waist and he smiled goofily at me.

"What…?"

He shrugged and looked back to the footpath. "Nothing, nothing."

I did a lopsided frown but stayed silent, enjoying the moment of walking in the dark with him despite the cold. It was… it was nice. Comfortable. Relaxing… Nerve-wracking.

He'd be going back home with that creep where I had no idea what was happening to him. He'd have to go through each night wondering what was going to happen, and I wouldn't be there. He was safe these last couple of nights, and the only reason he wouldn't be was if Itachi went on his psycho killer rampage, which seemed to be very rare these days.

All I really wanted was for him to be safe, and by God that sounded much cornier than intended. I surprised myself yet again at just how much I really liked Naruto, and how protective I'd suddenly gotten over him. I felt a little pathetic, to be honest. I mean, I was an _Uchiha_. I was supposed to like girls, be the strong one, support a family, lead Sharingan and all that crap that came with the name, not go soft-hearted over some blonde boy who just happened to have the sexiest eyes and hair and smile and _voice_ known to humankind.

And there I go again.

Naruto tightened his arm briefly to get my attention, and I saw that we were at his front yard already. Naruto stepped onto the path and slid his arm out from my waist, starting to head inside before turning back and throwing his arms around my neck.

"I guess you're working all weekend?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we're short staffed."

"Monday then?"

"Yeah…"

He took a tiny step back so that he could kiss me easily, and I lost myself for a short while before we parted and rested our foreheads together. I frowned a little at the loss of contact, and I felt his hot breath on my lips as he laughed silently.

"You… You can still come over if you have to. But go to Kiba's first, I know friendship is important. You can call me anytime though, and if Kiba's not home then just rock up. One of us is usually there. I don't want you to have to… to have to put up with it."

He sighed and shook his head, taking a tiny step away form me. "I'll be fine, really. I'm invincible, remember? I'll be _fine_. It was just a bit much being with him at school and then home, and I was pissed at Tsunade for letting someone like him _teach_, for crying out loud. It's ridiculous."

I nodded with a scowl and he ruffled my hair with a half-smile.

"Calm down, you. It's all right, I promise. But you have to understand this, okay? I've learned to shut things out when they happen and not let them affect me, and this is no different. The only thing that gets me angry about this whole deal is that Tsunade won't acknowledge it. I thought she was someone who she's not, and that just sucks. Of course I hate Orochimaru right down to the friggin' enzymes in his stomach, but I can block it out. With Tsunade I can't, and once I can get through to her then I can confront the bastard and get it all out of the way."

"Why can't you do it now?"

He sighed and looked up at the stars for a moment before lowering his eyes back down to me. "I'm not ready yet. Tsunade's not ready yet. The only back-up I have is you, Kiba and Shizune, who the hag won't believe for a nanosecond."

I had nothing to say to that.

He fake-smiled and squeezed my shoulder, kissing me again quickly. "And I know you'll be there for me when it all turns to shit."

He turned away with a scuff of his shoe on the path and said over his shoulder, "Remember, it's _her_, not _him_."

I sighed and shoved my hands into my pockets, watching him go through my fringe.

I muttered under my breath, too quiet for him to hear.

"I just thought it would be the other way around, that's all."

* * *

I just realised that this has all been fluff and build-up until nowish, nothing else. Um – um – um… sorry? It should get more interesting soon… The whole first part of this last section was so pointless but so much fun to write –goofy grin- I couldn't get rid of it.

That last line is a little cryptic and it could be taken several ways. Sasuke was thinking Naruto should be angry/upset at Orochimaru and not Tsunade (he can't understand Naruto's logic), he thinks he should confront Orochimaru sooner than later, and he thinks Naruto's too strong to fall in an emotional heap when it all happens so it won't be Naruto who needs him, but him who needs Naruto.

Make sense? It does to me XP

My love for Tatsuya Fujiwara got a little out of hand... mm...

Keep the Itachi ideas a-comin' people, they're all awesome XD

Reviewsssshhhhhh make me oh sho happeh.


	5. Manipulative Bitch

Nothing to say except that dreams are fun and wonderfully pointless… -twiddles thumbs- Oh, and this semi-died in the middle when I was juggling _loads_ of homework and writing. I wish I could slow down time. That would be handy.

I don't actually like how this chapter turned out, but I honestly couldn't think of another way to do it that didn't involve re-writing the _entire_ thing. So… sorry in adance.

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

5. MANIPULATIVE BITCH

I sat down heavily in the beanbag and looked across at Shikamaru as Naruto came and sat on my lap. He was reading a book upside down and looked over the top of it when he felt me watching him.

"What?"

I blinked at Sakura and shrugged.

"Nothing," Naruto said.

"No one asked you," Shikamaru huffed.

Naruto was suddenly facing me, pushing me back against the hard floor, beanbag gone. He was attacking my mouth within seconds, and I could hear Sakura, Gaara, Tenten and Shikamaru talking in the background.

"No, I'm telling you, Lithium comes before Beryllium," Gaara was urgently trying to explain. He sounded a lot like Sakura.

It was very hot in here. Naruto was too warm. But goodness he could kiss.

Tenten threw an orange cushion at me and said, "Not like that!"

I waved my hand at her and bit Naruto's neck. I was rewarded with a loud groan and a return favour. Our hands were everywhere at once, touching everything. The moans got louder while our friends chatted all around us, paying no attention. Naruto pushed his legs to either side of my body so that he was straddling me and kissed me hard, pushing his hips down with a sharp jolt that sent my head back against the wooden floor. Hands were under my shirt and it was gone instantly, his following a split second behind. Then Naruto bit me again and kissed a trail leading downwards.

Itachi asked us what we wanted for lunch and if anyone else was coming around.

I shook my head and panted out a "Sushi's fine, no one else is – ngh!" Naruto had reached a particularly sensitive spot on my chest.

Itachi rolled his eyes at me and Sakura folded her arms. "Sasuke, why can't you just sing?"

Naruto moved down further as the others all resumed their conversation. I threw my head back into the pillows and bunched the blankets in my fists. My pants were gone and so were his, and I'd never felt anything so amazing. It was hot, far too hot, but the best kind of heat there could ever be.

Shikamaru told me the clouds were particularly interesting today.

Then Naruto moved down just that tiny bit further and set my nerves on fire. It was warm and wet and everything I could ever hope for. His hands were on my hips, holding them down, and one of mine moved from the blanket to tangle in his blonde hair.

It was silky and soft and he was amazing and the world went all a manner of different colours and I yelled and jolted upright, hair stuck to my forehead in a most unattractive way.

I panted heavily and ran a hand through the short hair at the back, eyes darting around the room in that am-I-still-dreaming kind of way.

There was no Sakura, Gaara, Tenten or Shikamaru to be found. Nor a beanbag, random orange cushion, or an older brother. Or an incredibly talented Naruto, for that matter. I was safe.

And in desperate need of a cold shower.

I scowled at myself as I threw back the covers, preparing to flinch at the rush of cool air but realising Itachi must have left the heater running over night again. I glanced at the time as my eyes slowly came into focus and my brain finally caught up with me. Nine a.m… I still had two hours before I had to be at work. No biggie.

I yawned my way to the bathroom and stripped down, stepping under the cool stream of water and feeling instantly relaxed. I took a deep breath in and exhaled loudly, letting the air out slowly.

Well, that was certainly, uh… _interesting_. Possibly the most disturbing one I'd had yet, not to mention the most vivid. And why was he doing all the work? I scowled. I was _so_ not the bitch in this relationship.

I took a drink of water from the shower and turned the heat up, thinking over the whole three weeks we'd been together.

I'd been happier, to say the least – even Itachi had noticed. We hadn't been out together on our own since seeing that movie, Naruto deciding that perhaps it was better to get a bit more comfortable with each other, introduce our friends to what was going on, show affection occasionally when we were down the street but still keep it completely hidden in classes (especially drama) – that kind of stuff.

And so nothing had happened these last two weeks. Nothing important, anyway. Our whole first week together was eventful and hectic to say the least, but at the same time it was… fun. We'd spent so much time together and surprised each other by the easiness with which we slipped into the relationship, but since then he'd suddenly gotten nervous. When we were alone he was as clingy as ever and paid me all the attention I needed (and more), but in class or around friends he froze up and couldn't be natural, and it was that complete unnaturalness that clued our friends in.

I tipped the shampoo into my hand as I cursed myself for getting so affected over nothing again. All his fault, I tell you. Sometimes I missed my old calculating self.

In the past two weeks we'd spent time together, done the normal stuff, had some fun (and you know what I mean by 'fun'), friends found out (Ino screeched her surprise and congratulations at us for a full fifteen minutes without letting up and Naruto had to pretend there was a sale on at the local jewellery store to get her to leave), Itachi continued being strangely brotherly and supportive about the whole thing, it was still a secret from our parents, no one got involved or tried to break us up – it was utterly boring compared to the first week.

It wasn't that I wanted something bad to happen to us, I just wanted… _something_.

I groaned at myself in frustration and leant my head against the cool wall tiles. I was in one of _those_ moods. Those moods where something's wrong but you don't know what it is and everything irritates you to no end, you're so bored that you can't even watch television, you have no clue how to make sense of your thoughts, and everything just seems to look like shit.

Pfft. And girls say they're the only ones who have to deal with raging hormones. As if.

We'd been avoiding the important things since we'd gotten together because we didn't want to get too deep too fast. Naruto said that telling me about Orochimaru hadn't really been that much of an issue because I already knew, but while we were safe from delving into big issues with that one, we still avoided deciding what to do about it. He was still hounded in class, still got suggestive remarks made about him as well as myself and a couple of other students, but nothing was done. He refused to take it to Tsunade on the logic that it wouldn't help anyway. She didn't believe him and she never would.

I had to change his mind somehow, even if it meant going to her myself.

And he hadn't asked me once about leaving. He… He knew it was going to happen and he wasn't going to try and stop me.

I rinsed out my shampoo with a sigh, knowing that deep down I wanted him to stop me. I wanted him to care about me as much as I cared for him and oh God I think I might throw up at how corny I'm getting.

I scowled, just for good measure, and turned off the taps as I violently cursed the cold. It was no good worrying – everything would sort itself out in the end.

Honestly, the amount of times I'd told myself that since this whole Naruto ordeal began way back in year nine… I shook my head sadly. Far, far too many times.

Dried, dressed and fed, I heard my phone yelling at me and answered it with a mouthful of toast.

"'Lo?"

"Sasuke-e-e! I'm bored!"

I swallowed. "That's nice."

"Entertain me!"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you're annoying."

A miffed squeak came down the line. "That's no way to treat your best friend!"

"Clearly not caring about that right now."

A huff. "What time are you working today?"

"Eleven."

"When do you finish?"

"Four."

"Can I come and visit?"

"No."

"You're such a bitch."

No! No I'm not! Naruto's the bitch! Naruto is _definitely_ the bitch!

"Sasuke?"

"Sorry?"

"I said you don't have a choice. I'm coming round after work and we're going to get something to eat."

"What if I want to see Naruto?"

"Naruto can wait. I haven't seen just _you_ much lately and quite frankly I'm feeling a tad lonely. I don't have anyone to bitch to anymore."

I purposely failed at masking a cough as I said, "Ino."

"_Ino_ is away for the weekend, Shikamaru has some super-secret date with Temari that he doesn't know about yet, Hinata's gone on some… thing, Gaara's mad at Kankuro so he's definitely a no-go zone, Sai's on the perve-wave and Tenten has those arse-kicking classes on Saturday afternoons. Which only leaves you!"

"Aren't Tenten's classes in the morning?"

A tiny pause. "No… they're at night now…"

I sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine, but I refuse to stay out later than five."

"No way!"

"Yes way, now go away. I need to get to work."

"And again – you're such a bitch."

I hung up.

* * *

I pushed open the door and was immediately beckoned over by Satsuki, a girl I hadn't seen before standing next to her looking terrified. I stalked over to them, carefully keeping my face blank as I ran through the list of possible identities for this girl. The one that seemed the most logical was the one that sat the worst with me.

Coffee-girl offered a three word explanation. "Sasuke, Matsuri, go."

Crap.

I turned an ice glare on the small brunette girl and danced around in my head as someone _finally_ shrank back. I thought it was losing its effect, but apparently my friends had become immune.

This 'Matsuri' actually took a full step back, trying to keep her eyes level with mine but failing miserably. She dropped them to the floor after less than a second and mumbled her apologies. I didn't know what for, but I'd won so I didn't really care.

I decided to lay down the rules straight away. No time for pleasantries in this place.

"Don't get in my way, don't ask stupid questions, don't add suffixes to my name, don't make me repeat myself, and… just don't. If in doubt, assume you can't."

The girl's eyes widened and she nodded frantically, lowering her eyes back down to the floor.

Just as I was smirking to myself and planning how to make her time here miserable just like coffee-girl did to me, said girl interrupted my thoughts with a stern flick of the tea towel.

"Help, not terrorize. I thought you stopped being a bastard."

I raised an eyebrow. "Uchiha. It won't stop – it runs in the family."

She tilted her head in agreement making an 'aah' sound, then suddenly her face lit up and she got that wildly excited look that I'd come to associate with her asking me something personal. "When am I going to meet this mystery boyfriend of yours?"

I shrugged at the expected question - she'd asked it every time we had a shift together since someone –coughSakuracough- happened to let it slip that I was involved now. So far every time I answered her it had been either with a grunt, a glare or a noncommittal shrug. I figured she finally deserved a semi-answer as a reward for her persistence.

"You already have," I gave in, pushing past her and heading into the backroom to change.

Just before I reached the door I heard a bit of a splutter and then, "_That_ one?! The blonde? Aaah! I should have guessed!"

Pssh. Girls.

Once my sleek and oh-so-sexy black shirt was on, I went back out into the café and motioned Matsuri to follow, inwardly cursing my bad luck at having to actually work _with_ someone, much less a someone who had no idea what they were doing.

I made my way to an elderly couple having brunch or something, I didn't really care, and showed mouse-girl how to take orders and write them up, then where to take them, who to give them to, which tables were hers and not to dare touch the coffee machine while Satsuki was working because she'd get her fingers broken. I didn't tell her not to comment on said girl's serious lack of talent in the coffee-making department, figuring it would be entertaining at the very least to see the new girl make a pass at how horrible it was.

I smirked to myself as I thought about it. Yes yes, I enjoy other people's pain, so sue me.

Time flies when you're having fun, but apparently it does when you're having possibly the worst time ever as well, so before I knew it, it was three o'clock and time for mouse-girl to leave, letting me have some peace to work on my own. Finally.

I was taking her back up to Satsuki at the coffee machine when I realised that I hadn't had a visit from a certain not-so-inconspicuous couple today. Then it came to me that it was three o'clock and they would most definitely be here by now if they were going to come.

Feeling almost nervous, I cast my eyes around for a head of wild grey hair or a pineapple-style brunette that wasn't Shikamaru. When I found none I took a deep breath, coming to the conclusion that today couldn't be too bad if _they_ hadn't – and ignore everything I just said.

I groaned and gripped the pen super-tight in my fist. Mouse-girl was watching me nervously but trying not to look like she was, and coffee-girl just burst out laughing.

"Haven't seen them in a while, ne? Should be fun."

I glared at her. "_You _haven't, but _I _have."

She just smiled and made ushering motions with her hands. "Keep school and work separate. Go on, off you go."

"Can't Hiro do it?"

"He's serving other people. Now go, stand there for half an hour and show Matsuri how to deal with difficult customers."

"She has to go home."

Matsuri shook her head earnestly. "No, no, I can stay, really, I don't mind. I'd like to!"

So I scowled at her and trudged over to where _they_ had just sat down, follower in tow. When I arrived at their table I simply raised an eyebrow at both teachers, not bothering to ask them what they wanted because it would be a waste of breath.

Kakashi-sensei's eye crinkled at me in a smile and Iruka gave a stressed sigh.

"Kakashi, no hounding today."

His face fell. "But it's so entertaining!"

I had a cutting retort on the tip of my tongue when I suddenly had a bright idea. I turned to stare down at Matsuri. "You know what? You serve these two and I'll go to those ladies ov-"

Kakashi laughed, cutting me off. "Oh ho hoh, no you don't, Uchiha. Iruka wants to tell you something."

I snorted. "Doesn't look like it. And this girl here is officially my trainee now so nothing personal, if you please." I made my voice painfully polite as I added that last bit, and cringed a little on the inside.

Kakashi shook his head and tutted at me. "Such a nice boy in class, so rude at work. What is the world coming to these days?"

Iruka rolled his eyes as his partner buried his nose in the menu and Matsuri fluttered awkwardly at my side. Ten minutes in and she was already frustrating the hell out of me. If she kept it up I might have to take drastic measures.

"Listen, Uchiha, I don't want to sound like the father-in-law telling you to keep your hands off his daughter –" he faltered "or son – whatever. But I know I'm the closest thing to a father that Naruto had and I don't want you messing with him. He hasn't told me but I can tell, and I don't want him getting hurt. I'd like to say I trust you but… given what you two are usually like together, I can't say I do. He's a delicate boy – he needs looking after. It's not that I don't exactly approve of your relationship, it's just that I'm a little… apprehensive, if you like, of what might come out of it. I don't think either of you are ready for it, and I'm worried that you'll be a… ah – _negative _influence on him, despite what this old man says."

He jerked his head in Kakashi's direction as said man snapped his own head up with an indignant expression. "Now, now, I said nothing about good or bad influences, I merely said that he couldn't make Naruto smart." He tutted at his partner and rolled his eye before suddenly realising. "And my hair is _silver_, not grey. I am _not_ old!"

I snorted and Matsuri smiled, making a strange sound in the back of her throat as if she was desperately holding back a laugh. I looked down at her and she swallowed it down audibly. Better.

I turned back to Iruka. Hn, so much for 'nothing personal'. "Right now I'm going to ignore the fact that you're both my teachers, okay, so don't be pricks and hold this against me in class."

Kakashi smirked and nodded, almost looking… proud? Iruka raised his eyebrows but motioned for me to continue.

I took a deep breath and leant forwards, my palms on the tabletop. I'd wanted to say this for a long time.

"Stop coming in here and telling me to behave with Naruto, because nothing you say affects the situation. I don't care if you're the closest thing to a father he had, because right now I'm probably one of the only things he has. You two can both get off my case. Had you ever considered that hurting him has _never_ crossed my mind? That I would never even _consider_ it? All either of you do is get in the way, or think you know the situation when you don't, and it just makes things more complicated than they need to be so just _piss off_. Naruto is fine as long as I'm around, and I don't intend on ruining that, got it? I don't need to be questioned every single time one of you comes in here. I'm not influencing Naruto; believe it or not, it's the other way around so you have nothing to worry about there. Obviously we've gotten past that stupid rivalry we had so I don't know why the hell you're bringing it up, and clearly we don't give a _shit _if you approve or not. Now I'm going out the back for a moment – give your orders to Matsuri and _don't_ take two hours."

I gave them a final glare and spun on my heel, scrunching the pad up in my hand and pushing the swing doors that led to the back room. I stepped through and sat against the bench in between my coat and someone else's, both hanging on hooks and hiding me well enough. I punched the wooden bench next to my thigh and swore under my breath.

Everything is magnified by a thousand when you're in _this_ mood.

Normally I would have smirked at having shut them up so well and ranted at them without being interrupted, but all I could do now was stare blankly at the tiled floor.

Nothing except mild frustration and emptiness.

I was just sick of people assuming I was going to hurt him, corrupt him, crush him. They assumed he was fragile and needed protecting, but in actual fact he was the strongest person I knew. No one ever thinks for a moment that maybe I'm worse off than him, do they?

… Okay, I hate myself. That was a horrible thought and if I could un-think it definitely would.

I sighed and pushed my face into my palms, squeezing my eyes closed as tight as I could and exhaling loudly.

I wasn't worse off than Naruto, I knew that, it was just my mood making me an arsehole. And damn teachers getting involved.

But still, while I knew I wasn't worse off than Naruto, he was still stronger than me. Yet at the same time as being so much of a brick wall against letting things affect him, he did come across as being easy to break. And he probably was, he just hadn't met the person capable of it yet – hence the Orochimaru caper.

If that was me… I'd be a mess. I'd be worse than I used to be, which is seriously saying something. No, actually, I probably would have killed them. No joke. Wouldn't have thought twice about it.

You try growing up with a brother who takes pleasure in telling you _exactly_ how he'd murdered your parents – you'd get some ideas too, believe me.

The door swinging open brought me out of my frustrated sulking and I glanced up at an irritated Sakura, hands on her hips.

"Get your arse back out there, you whinger. Kakashi-sensei is giving the poor new girl a hard time and you're out here being moody. Go and help."

I gave her a blank look in return and she sighed, pushing my coat out the way and sitting next to me.

"I don't know what's wrong and I know I won't get it out of you, so I'm not going to try and be all heartfelt and act like I understand. Hence the 'get your arse back out there'. Whatever it is, just get over it. You're probably in one of _those_ moods, aren't you? Am I right or am I right?"

I nodded dully and pursed my lips as she gave a tiny laugh.

"Yup, told ya girls were always right."

A sudden squeal and a familiar voice shouting, "OhnoohGodit'syou!" caused us both to stand up and peek through the door out into the café.

What we saw got rid of my mood immediately, and I was hard pressed not to crack up. Sakura didn't even bother trying.

Gaara was standing with his hands in his hair looking incredibly distressed, Hinata and Neji at his side and Matsuri standing in front of him with her hands clasped, a desperate look on her face. All eyes in the café were turned to them.

"Gaara! I – I can't believe it's you! I heard from Ibiki that you'd moved here but – wow, I _never_ thought I'd find you so fast!"

Gaara took a couple of steps back and Hinata crossed her arms, looking remarkably dangerous for a girl as timid as her. Neji was covering a laugh with his hand, the only giveaway being the tiny shake of his shoulders.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?"

Mouse-girl looked like she was about to cry out of joy. "I came here to find you! Suna was so horrible without you and all the kids at school were… well, it was better with you there! I missed you!"

"I didn't miss you."

Her smile faltered and she was about to cry for real. You could hear her voice cracking as she said, "But – but – _I_ missed _you_! How… how –"

Gaara shuffled a little closer to Hinata, who was still looking surprisingly dangerous. "Uh-huh, I gathered that. Right now you're sort of annoying me though, so if you wouldn't mind stepping out of the way…?" He nodded his head in my direction to indicate where he hoped to go.

I'd have to pay him back for that later.

Matsuri turned on me looking murderous, and was most likely about to start shrieking 'why didn't you _tell_ me you knew him?!' when Satsuki thankfully intervened and put a gentle hand on mouse-girl's shoulder, stopping her movement.

"You're scaring everyone away so you all better shut up before I make you. You can stay for another hour, Matsuri, and take the last part of Uchiha's shift." She turned to glare at me and I raised an eyebrow at her. So ineffective. "You go with these guys because you're useless at the moment and I want them out."

No one moved. Someone in the café coughed awkwardly in the sudden silence.

Satsuki narrowed her eyes at me. "Now."

That seemed to bring everyone back to life.

Matsuri was led past us and taken into the back, and I smirked to myself. Well, looks like someone's out of a job after the fist day.

I decided against going after them to retrieve my coat and so followed Sakura back to the front of the café, where Neji was still trying not to laugh, Hinata still looked a little annoyed and Gaara was still narrowing his eyes. I didn't like it when he did that – it made his eyes look like black holes because of the ridiculous amount of make-up he wore.

I raised my hand in greeting and raised an eyebrow at my make-upped friend, silently asking him what the _hell_ that was all about. He shook his head at me and jerked his head outside just as the noise from the customers began to start up again.

I could clearly hear Kakashi among them all, laughing his arse off as usual.

Hn, figures.

Sakura grinned widely at Gaara with a wink and said, "Shall we proceed to the park, my dear friends?"

Hinata smiled at her and nodded, immediately jumping into a whispered conversation with her about 'just who was _that_ tramp?' as they stepped out into the cold.

Why the park? Why the park when it was still so cold and I didn't have a jacket?

Today had gone from looking good to going to crap, then from looking up again to tumbling all the way back down to crap.

I silently fumed to myself about Sakura's uncanny ability to corner me into any situation, hence dragging Gaara, Neji and Hinata along. I was yet to figure out why Hinata was here, but I had no problem with her so shrugged it off.

"Don't look so angry, Uchiha," Neji scolded me.

I glared at him despite knowing its ineffectiveness. "I'm cold, tired, fed up with being hounded by two certain teachers, having withdrawals after _one_ day, and somehow Sakura's managed to rope me into some get-together yet again. Why _wouldn't_ I be angry?"

Gaara snorted from beside me and said, "At least your stalker hasn't returned."

I had to smirk at that, and was silently thankful at the way both he and Neji scooted closer to me to block the slight breeze and generate some heat. Of course, actually saying thank you would mean I'd noticed it, and that would just make us all uncomfortable.

"So, who is she?" Neji queried.

Gaara glared at the ground passing by beneath him and shrugged. "The stalker from Suna."

Neji and I blanked for a moment before both going "oooh!" at the same time.

"I vaguely remember something about being followed home and fought over and sent notes and had a fan club started." I smirked and turned to him with a smartarse look in my eye. "Am I right?"

He scowled at me briefly before giving the ground the full brunt of his wrath again. "Sadly, yes."

Neji laughed. "And now she's followed you here?"

He nodded slowly and I clapped him on the back in what I hoped was a reassuring way.

And that was the end of our manly conversation, once again skirting over anything about feelings as we so often did, and wandered in our own thoughts until we came to the park where Shikamaru stood leaning against a tree, shrouded in a large jacket that didn't suit him at all.

He glanced up when he heard Sakura give a particularly loud cackle at something Hinata had said, and raised his hand.

I scowled even further. Who else had Sakura dragged into this? It couldn't bode well for me, really. In fact, Sakura and a whole bunch of people coming to visit me just for a nice friendly time never ended with anything good.

Take the last time, for example. Sakura started crying, for Christ's sake.

"Hey guys," Shikamaru mumbled.

Sakura hugged him tight. "Shika! You came! I didn't think you'd get your lazy arse out of bed."

He shrugged and tucked his hands into his pockets, glancing up at the sky with a frown. "That's why we're going back to my place so I can stay on the couch and relax while you all sort out whatever it was you dragged me here for. I already called Tenten."

Oh, Tenten as well? Great. All we needed was Shino and then that'd be everyone. Well, everyone that counted, anyway.

Sakura shrugged and said she thought it was probably a better idea because at least we'd be warm, then "What about Shino?"

I resisted the urge to facepalm. Yep, something big was going down and I sure as hell wasn't going to like it.

"Oh, is he coming too? Why?" Hinata asked.

Good question, girl.

Sakura nodded. "'Cos it's a big deal! We need everyone!"

That's it. What the hell. "Who died, got married, had a baby, got fired, is leaving, is… ah."

Shikamaru and Sakura turned to me with semi-apologetic looks while everyone else looked mildly confused. I shook my head sadly, turning to walk away.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate it, but I don't care. You're not going to change anything."

Sakura jumped in front of me and threw her arms around my waist to prevent me going any further. She buried her face into my chest and said, "We're not trying to stop you, we just want everyone to know what's going on, okay? And we haven't seen you in ages so it's like a get-together... just minus a few people that we know you don't like. That's all, we promise."

"So why do I have to be there?"

"Because you're the one leaving, baka!" She scolded me quietly, probably so the others wouldn't hear. "There's no point without you."

I sighed and wriggled out of her grip, turning to raise an eyebrow at Shikamaru, the only one except Hinata who would actually tell me the truth. "Nothing else is going on? You're not going to spring something on me?"

Shikamaru shook his head with a sigh and said, "No, no, nothing else."

I narrowed my eyes sceptically. "Really?"

Gaara huffed. "_Yes_."

I looked at each one in turn carefully, knowing _exactly _what they wanted to do but finding now way to get out of it, and so turned around again in the direction of Shikamaru's house. Sakura came bounding up next to me and latched onto my arm with a proud, "I knew you'd see it our way."

* * *

"Saske!" Tenten shrieked, launching herself at me. "Ha! So Sakura conned you into it, huh? I must say, I'm very proud of her."

I patted her back awkwardly before pushing her away. "Yay for Sakura, please never do that again."

Tenten frowned and hit me on the arm in a pathetic attempt at a punch. She could do better than that.

"Aren't you supposed to be at those classes you do?"

She looked at me in confusion and shook her head. "No, they're in the morning."

I threw Sakura a glare. Manipulative bitch.

Shino sat down heavily into the nearest chair and said in his standard monotone, "Why does Sakura want us here?"

I laughed bitterly. "You're not the only one wondering."

He quirked an eyebrow at me before all heads turned to Sakura, every one of them silently demanding to know why they'd been brought there for apparently no reason.

See, none of us ever assume that it's just a chance to spend time with each other and have a good time. Oh no, I make my friends for a reason. You see, I like them to be intelligent, inquiring, sceptical, curious. People that don't take things at face value. That was this bunch through and through. Yes, Tenten included, and especially Hinata.

So of course none of them even thought for a second that this was an innocent little expedition, and they all wanted answers. Now. No one had time for pleasantries such as drinks or food and talking about the latest gossip or anything like that. It was sit down, shut up, find out, argue and _then_ get comfortable and do the typical stuff. We were all like that, and it wasn't likely to change much. And before you ask, of _course_ we know how to have fun. Raging hormones, the years of experimenting and all that wonderful stuff – teenager and fun come hand in hand.

Sakura, seated on the couch next to my lazy-arse pineapple friend, rubbed her palms on her thighs nervously as she waited for everyone to take a seat or lean against a wall. Sitting down on the ground in front of the fire place (which, sadly, wasn't going), I rolled my eyes. It was like a bloody council meeting or something.

"Is anyone else coming?"

Neji shook his head. "No, everyone who matters is here." Nicely put.

"Except Naruto," Tenten piped up.

I snorted. "As if he doesn't know already."

"Know what?"

Sakura held up her hands. "Hang on, we're getting to that." She nodded her head at me. "Care to tell them?"

I shrugged and leant back on my hands, looking at the ceiling with a sigh and a, "Go for your life."

I didn't have to check to know that Sakura was giving me her look of disapproval, but didn't bother returning it with my usual as-if-I-care expression. I didn't feel like telling them, big deal. And even if she pestered me to the brink of insanity, I would _never_ tell her it was because I was… I was scared.

Yes, there you go, Uchiha Sasuke is admitting to being scared. Scared of announcing it out loud and disappointing that many people at once. It still didn't seem real to me, despite the amount of times I'd had to remind myself of it in my head. It would only be real once I was there, in New Zealand, at the school with the hideous uniform. Only then.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Well, to put it bluntly, Sasuke's leaving Japan. Forever, probably. And… in two months."

Cue awkward silence. A few throats cleared audibly and someone shifted. I'm sure I heard someone huff in annoyance or surprise, it was hard to tell.

Gaara was the first to speak. "Is that all?"

Good question.

I felt Sakura and Shikamaru's eyes on me and looked down to meet them. Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow at me in question and I shrugged again. "I really don't care. Tell them what you want. I'll be back in a minute."

And with that I stood up, leaving the dead silent room and heading to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. I gave myself a mental scolding for being a wimp. Who cares if suddenly everyone remotely important to me knows my parents are alive and healthy and giving me an entire company to run? Would it really change anything? Would they think of me any differently? Would they tell anyone else?

No, no they wouldn't.

And they sure as hell wouldn't care, either.

I bent forwards and rested my forehead on the cool bench, sighing heavily. So what was the point?

I had to ask myself several times before I came to the conclusion that it was a collaborative effort between Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru, all trying to get me to… something. That part I couldn't figure out, but as a hunch I'd say Naruto wanted me to open up and get closer to more people than just those three. He was looking out for me.

I smiled faintly, despite the corniness of it all, and stood up straight. At the sink I filled a glass with water and took a long drink.

Naruto was just being Naruto, that was all. He was doing what he thought was best for me, and what I really hated but at the same time was thankful for, he was probably spot on. He had a way with me, that kid. He knew exactly what I needed and went to all lengths to make sure it was right for me.

Damn dobe.

I smiled down into my now empty glass and watched the kitchen lights refracting through it, playing havoc with my eyes.

I'd have to thank him somehow, but at the moment the only way I could think of probably wasn't the most pure of thoughts… No, that would have to wait. All I could do right now was go back in there, face them, tell them everything and show Naruto how much he'd changed me for the better. Even I hadn't really noticed it properly before now. He probably hadn't either, the oblivious twit.

With another sigh I dropped my glass into the sink and wandered back into the living room, where everyone was chatting quietly to themselves, sprawled everywhere on couches, cushions and the floor.

I blinked.

What? It was over already?

Tenten was the first to notice me, and sat up from her place slumped across Hinata's legs. She gave me a huge grin and said loudly, making sure everyone else tuned in, "You know what this means, right?"

I kept my face blank and silent, waiting for and dreading what she was going to say next.

She smiled even wider. "We get to have a going away party."

"No."

"A-and we can visit," Hinata offered.

"No."

"And we can all go at once and invade on your parents to show them exactly what we think of them running your life and being downright arseholes to you for however many years."

I was a little surprised at Gaara's forwardness, but managed to hold it back and glared at him instead. "No you won't."

Shino gave a small laugh from the chair in front of me and Neji hit Gaara on the arm lightly. "Told you he'd be crap about it all."

Then everyone started talking at once again, planning my party which wasn't going to happen, concocting all sorts of schemes to get at my parents which I would love to see but also wouldn't allow, or coming up with ideas to get every single one of them out of the country and into my enormous house at once. That wasn't happening either.

I manoeuvred my way through everyone and squeezed between a practically asleep Shikamaru and a very nervous looking Sakura. I gave her the best smile I could and ruffled her hair in a very not-Sasuke way.

She completely blanked at me.

"Did you tell them everything?"

A stunned nod.

"Even about Itachi?"

Another nod.

I smiled again and leant back against the couch cushions, for some reason feeling very… content.

"Cool."

Damn dobe.

* * *

Matsuri will be in it more, just because it's amusing watching Gaara squirm and Hinata get angry XP She's not actually there for any other reason…

I'm so stoked with how many reviews I have... O.O It's amazing! THANK YOU!

And my stories take faar too long to get to the point. Grar. Sorry.


	6. Fridges, Pervets and Death

YAY! We're bordering on the important stuff now! –happy dance- Long chapter…

**Note:** This whole fridge bit goes to **SnowWhiteSorrow**. I only I hope I did your little memory justice XD It turned nasty though… :( I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

6. FRIDGES, PERVERTS AND DEATH

The last thing I expected to see when I opened the fridge was my brother.

Seriously, I would have shrieked if I remembered how.

All I wanted was a piece of cake to settle down with after a hard day at school, but who do I find hoeing into it _in_ the fridge?

Yep, him. My brother. Itachi.

Bastard.

I glared down at him, one arm holding me up by the fridge door and the other frozen in front of me, halfway towards the first shelf where I remember the cake being.

Itachi had a fight with Kisame and took it out on the kitchen, if you're wondering why we have chocolate mud cake with chocolate icing and chocolate sprinkles and strawberries covered in chocolate on top. Yes, we like our chocolate when we're depressed. Clearly.

My dearest brother widened his eyes innocently and looked from me to my outstretched hand and back again. He must have realised what I was aiming for and suddenly furrowed his brows, pulling the plate with the cake on it closer to his body to protect it from me. He had dark brown mess _all_ over his face and hands, and would have passed as a two year-old with flying colours if not for his betraying size.

I closed the door with a snap, blinked a few times, shook my head and opened it again.

Nope, he was still there.

I tilted my head to the side in confusion, noting that every shelf within the fridge was gone, and closed the door again.

Turning around and wearing my look of deepest contemplation, I systematically looked through every single cupboard in the kitchen, finally stopping when I came to the last corner cupboard. There they were, all three shelves, but I still hadn't found the food.

I had a strong urge to yell my frustration at the top of my lungs, but bit it back forcefully. No time for that. I was actually priding myself on my ability to keep moderately calm so far.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, thinking of anywhere else he could have put it. I soon realised that was pointless, considering that no one could understand an insane person's logic, but tried for the first place I would put it anyway, just as a hunch.

I spun back around and opened up the freezer door and holy crap yep there was the food.

I held my arms up on front of my face as an assortment of leftover dinners, bottles, spreads, cheeses and other fridge-requiring items toppled out and spilt on the floor around my feet.

My eyes narrowed dangerously and I kicked the food out of the way, yanking open the fridge door a third time.

"Itachi, wha-"

"It good," he interrupted, holding out a piece of half-eaten cake to me.

I shook my head and bit my lip to hold back another cry of intense frustration, and simply grabbed his arm, dragging him out of the fridge. I was sick of this, well and truly sick of it, and something had to be done about it before he wasn't the only insane person in this house.

He looked up at me from the floor, cake still smudged all over his face, hands and black shirt. He kept up the innocent two year old look and blinked at me slowly, a hand coming up to rub the spot on his head that had hit the floor.

"Wh-why…? That wasn't very n-nice!"

I scowled and crouched down to his level, putting my face right up close to his. "You know what, I don't care. Have you actually been _taking_ your medication, or are you making it all up?"

He said nothing, backing away a little, and I took it to be the latter.

That was it.

"Do you _know_ how much that shit costs?! And it's not like you'd go and buy it when you think you don't even have a problem, so I have to pay for it! You're insane, Itachi. _Insane._ Mad. Crazy. Deranged. Psychotic. Housing several personalities in the one brain. Bordering on schizophrenic – whatever the hell you want to call it. And I'm the one who has to deal with it all the time! If you don't take that medication then you're endangering not only your own life, but my life as well, you selfish prick. I don't give a damn if you don't like the colour of the tablets, you're going to take the fucking things or I'll ram them down your throat, you hear me?! Now get off the floor and take them like you're supposed to. Twice a day, okay? Twice every damn day, and don't think you can trick me anymore because I'll be watching you take every single freaking one from now on. Got it?"

I took in his reaction and for a fleeting moment my gut twisted with guilt, but his teary eyes couldn't sway me that easily and I stood up. Looking down at him I said, "I'm going out for an hour or so. This crap better be cleaned up by the time I get back."

I turned on my heel, striding determinedly out of the kitchen – and froze.

Naruto was standing in my doorway, jacket half off and a blank look on his face.

I looked back over my shoulder to Itachi, still on the floor looking like he was about to bawl his eyes out, and back to Naruto, who was now giving me a half-decent glare.

He threw his jacket on the floor and pushed right past me, crouching down to my brother who was only just picking himself up.

"Hey, Itachi, how's it going? You all right? Come on, up we get, that's it."

With a we're-talking-about-this-later-you-shitty-excuse-for-a-human-being look, Naruto picked up the helpless wreck and heaved him to his feet. Said helpless wreck stared down at his fingers and let the tears flow freely, and leaning into Naruto as the blonde put his arms around him.

I rolled my eyes, turned away from them, strode out the door and pulled on my jacket with a satisfyingly dramatic swish, the door slamming shut behind me.

Damn Naruto and succeeding in making me feel like the total scum of the earth.

But no, if I hadn't let that out then I probably would've taken it out on him instead, which couldn't ended nastily. There was no way to end the relationship I had with my brother – he would _always_ be my brother, whichever way I looked at it. But I could lose Naruto easily and I'd rather be a total arse to my brother and make him cry than break up.

Selfish, I know, but I need Naruto.

I jammed my hands into my pockets and didn't bother checking as I crossed the road, deciding to let the cars stop for me. I was a man on a mission and I didn't have time for anything that got in my way. I kept walking with my head down, pushing past people in the street and ignoring their sounds of disapproval until I came to my destination.

I took a deep breath and stepped through the glass double doors, surprised to see Sakura at the reception desk with a clipboard in hand, talking happily with one of the doctors. I walked up and tapped her on the shoulder, quirking an eyebrow as she gave a barely muted shriek of surprise.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here? What happened? Is everything all right?"

I sent her an annoyed look at all the questions and simply said, "Itachi happened. I need to see Dr. Chiyo."

Sakura looked like she was about to ask again what happened, but a sharp look shut her up and she nodded instead, turning to the receptionist she was previously chatting with before I'd interrupted, and said, "Is Chiyo busy for the rest of the day? She usually knocks off around now…"

"It'll only be quick," I said.

The receptionist shrugged and clacked her nails on the keyboard to look up the schedule as she said, "I don't know… I think she's got her last appointment now… They should be out in the next five minutes though, she's been running relatively on time today. You can wait, if you like. I'm sure if it's quick she'll see you."

I nodded my thanks and walked towards the rows of seats in the foyer, Sakura close behind me. Once we were both seated she leaned close to me with a concerned look.

"Sasuke, are you all right?"

"Fine."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You know I don't believe you, right?"

"Yes."

"Want to tell me what happened?"

"I already did."

"In more detail, baka."

"… I lost it."

Her eyes widened and she leant back in her chair, hand shooting straight to her mouth.

"And… Naruto was there. I didn't know he was but I turned around and he was standing in the doorway. Looked like he was going to kill me."

Sakura shook her head and waved her hands in front of her face, telling me to back up a little. "Wait, when you say you lost it, do you mean with Itachi?"

I nodded.

"Physically or verbally?"

I shrugged. "Mostly verbal."

"Mostly?"

Another nod.

She frowned and sat back in her chair with a 'hmph' of disapproval, choosing to use her silence as a way of telling me her opinion. I didn't need her to; I already knew the low-down with controlling my temper around him. But she didn't have to deal with him day in day out, alternating between fearing for your life and scolding him for spilling sauce on his t-shirt. I'd like to see her live with him for one week – _one week_ – just to see how she handled it. Then she might understand what the hell I had to put up with.

We both fell silent, each to our own musings, and after five minutes or so Sakura suddenly checked her watch and jumped up with a jolt.

"I don't have time to sit and mope with you, but I'd like to tell you exactly what I'm thinking. Mind you, it'd take a hell of a long time, but… oh I'm _so_ not happy."

She threw me a half-arsed glare and I just shrugged her off, saved from having to reply when a familiar voice said my name from the right.

I turned my head to see Dr. Chiyo standing at the doorway to her office, the usual smile on her face that made her look like she couldn't decide between scolding you and telling you how much she loved you while her eyes said she _really_ couldn't be bothered dealing with stupid people.

I nodded my head in greeting and ignored Sakura as she stared me down the whole walk over to Itachi's doctor, boring holes into the back of my head. I didn't have the patience to deal with over-reacting females right now. At least Chiyo was sensible.

"Sasuke, how are you?"

I raised an eyebrow at the elderly doctor and waited until the door was closed before getting straight to the point. "Does Itachi's medication work?"

She made an 'aah' sound as if she was expecting the question, and seated herself down comfortably on the computer chair at her desk. Threading her fingers together across her stomach, she regarded me with her hard gaze.

I stared straight back, my eyes never leaving hers. She knew better than that by now.

"What happened?"

"I yelled."

She narrowed her eyes. "And what did you say?"

"That he was insane and if he didn't take the pills I'd ram them down his throat."

Her eyes narrowed further, not finding anything in that remotely amusing. "What did he do?"

"Cried."

"Did you comfort him?"

"No, I came here."

She looked positively livid now. This was quite entertaining, to tell you the truth. "Why didn't you stay?"

"Because I wanted to know if taking pills made any difference or not. I can't tell when he's taken them or when he hasn't, and he always tells me he has. Sometimes it's three personalities in a day, occasionally four or more if it's especially bad. He went through two weeks of relative normality and now he's suddenly snapped out of it. I'm sick of it. I don't want to have to deal with this crap every day, so if you have something that will actually _work_, give it to me. I don't care what it is as long as it stops him losing control so easily."

She stared at me in silence for a while before saying, "Sasuke, I've explained this to you many times. When he changes personality he doesn't remember anything about medication – he probably doesn't even know who he is a lot of the time. You've told me that he hasn't recognised you sometimes, so that should come as no surprise. Remembering something small like taking pills would be an amazing feat for someone as damaged as your brother. You have to cut him some slack."

"That doesn't answer my question."

She sighed and rubbed her temple, closing her eyes for a moment. I suddenly realised how old she was getting. She'd been Itachi's doctor since he first snapped way back when, and that was when she was younger and had just moved here from Suna to find a new job. She had dark brown shoulder-length hair then, and smooth skin. Now she was old and wrinkly with liver spots and wiry grey hair pulled back tight into a bun.

But she was still sharp as a whip, and I couldn't see that changing any time soon, no matter how old and slow she got.

"The medication he's on now is nothing but a placebo, so it doesn't make a difference except in his mind. If he has faith in the medication and convinces himself that they will work, then he can bring himself back into control. I've already explained this to you before, I just never told you that what he was currently taking had no actual ingredients to 'heal' him as such."

"I know, which is why, now that I've figured out you're feeding him crap, I want _actual_ medication. Stuff that works. I don't care about side-effects or any of that, I just want him to stay somewhat normal."

"You're being very selfish."

"I know."

She made a Sakura-like 'hmph' of disapproval and stood up, walking out of the room briefly. I chewed my nails nervously while I waited for her to return, and was thankful when she actually did, a new bottle of tablets in hand.

She threw the pills to me and I caught them without thinking, stuffing them straight into my pocket. It felt like some top secret drug deal.

Once she was seated again she crossed her arms and resumed her cold staring.

"Before you give them to him, you have to know that he will be noticeably different."

I raised an eyebrow. "And the problem with that is…?"

She paused for a moment in thought and then said, "Tell me, Sasuke, has he been stressed lately?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know of any reasons for him to be stressed?"

I shrugged. "Not really, only his upcoming play. The last one or something, but he's been talking about it since before I went away over a month ago, so I don't actually know when it is."

She made one of those understanding 'hmm' noises. "This medication will slow him down considerably. If he cannot perform certain tasks or his mind isn't as sharp, you have to own up to it. And they may take a few days to have an effect, so make sure he takes them three times a day."

"I'd be very hypocritical if I was the one who forgot."

She smirked and dipped her head in acknowledgment. "That you would be. But just so you know, I don't want him taking these. If he was under my care, there would be no medication involved at all, only therapy – which I know you all disagreed to for reasons I don't care to find out."

I shrugged and stood up, getting the feeling she didn't want me there any longer. "Well it's up to me, and I'm sick of fearing for my life."

She watched me stand sadly before following my lead and opening the door for me. "Come and see me in two weeks and tell me if you still want him on the medication. Same time same day."

* * *

I watched them from across the table, trying to discern if anything was different. Naruto had his head on my shoulder, stuffed full after eating copious amounts yet again. I could see Sakura giving me a strange look from my other side but I ignored her.

I wanted to know. I _really_ wanted to know.

But every time I asked I got the same response: "I don't know, ask them."

So I asked Shino and he shrugged and said he didn't know either. What kind of answer is that?

I narrowed my eyes as Shino passed his almost-not-quite-possibly-don't-really-know boyfriend a bottle of apple juice. Nothing gave them away, yet at the same time nothing said they weren't together.

A nudge in my right side.

"Sasuke, stop staring."

I turned to stare at Sakura instead, telling her with my eyes that I was perfectly comfortable staring at other people, and could she please leave me to it?

She smacked me in the head.

"Hey, only I can do that," Naruto said from my left, lifting his head at my sudden jerk and grinning around me at Sakura.

She snorted. "Oh believe me, I have as much right as you."

"Aah, that you do."

I shook my head. "Neither of you do, now can one of you _please_ tell me what the hell's going on with those two?" Come on, I'd said please – what more did they want?

Sakura rolled her eyes and hit her head on the table with a frustrated groan, barely missing her recently emptied plate. "How many times do we have to tell you? _We don't know_. No one does. No one will until they actually say anything. So shut up and wait like the rest of us. It's not like it's any of your business anyway."

I snorted and jerked my head in Naruto's direction, who hit me on the leg and said, "Oh as _if_."

"Not 'as if'! It happened, you know."

He sighed. "Yes it happened, but no it won't happen again. You're so paranoid."

I scowled and turned my attention back to the task at hand and oh what the hell? Now Shino, Choji, Ino and Sai were all walking away. Great, so much for working out what was happening. Bastard.

The bell rang and there was a collective groan around the table from all the drama students, recognising it as a sign of our impending doom. After a while of complaining about how much we all did _not_ want to go to class, we stood up and made our way down to the drama room, ready for an hour and a half of pure torture.

Oh, fun.

I held Naruto's hand as we walked down, and he squeezed it lightly in return.

* * *

I nudged Naruto and pointed to my wrist, asking him what the time was.

He inconspicuously pulled out his phone from his pocket and flipped it open, blocking as much of the screen as possible so that the light wouldn't be noticed in the darkened room.

"Ten minutes."

I nodded my thanks, but noticed he was still looking at me after I turned away. I glanced back at him with my eyebrow raised.

He shook his head and looked back at his phone before whispering, "It's the thirteenth… Something's happening today… Shit, I hate it when I forget."

I gave him a confused look and ignored him as he mumbled to himself under his breath. Ten minutes to go. Ten minutes until we were free.

Orochimaru must have noticed the time as well, because he suddenly interrupted Tenten and Sakura at the centre of the room and clapped his hands loudly, motioning for Kabuto to push them out of the way and back amongst the students.

"Quickly, kids, I have something important to announce before the bell goes."

The hum of quiet talking apparently didn't die down as quickly as he wanted.

"I _said_, shut up! Sit down and listen, you lot, I don't want to be here any more than you do so the quicker we get this over with the quicker we can get out of each other's company."

That shut us up.

He did that creepy smile and looked around at each of us before sighing contentedly, mood instantly changed back to that of a quiet teacher who was pleased with his students. He reminded me of Itachi, the way his moods changed to get what he wanted.

"There, that's better, isn't it? Now, what I have to tell you is very important, so you must listen."

Someone cracked their neck and another person behind me shifted uncomfortably in the expectant silence.

"We're going to be doing a performance! Isn't it exciting?!" He threw his arms up and grinned nastily, ordering us to be happy or he'd make us pay.

A few nervous smiles and mumbles of "Awesome…" went around the classroom before he stared us down enough so that soon everyone was clapping and talking excitedly. Fake, of course.

Naruto, Kiba and I made a point of not joining in.

"Now, now, I know its wonderful news, but you must be quiet." He waited for us all to shut up. It didn't take long. "It will only be short, and it should only take you a month or so of rehearsals before you know it properly. But there's a catch, of course, there always is." He tittered at himself. Yes, tittered. We all blanked. "It will be a performance of five separate plays, all of which you are going to write except one, which will, of course, be written by me and shall involve a select few students that I think are worthy of performing my work."

Oh, _worthy_, eh? Bastard. Judging and separating us after only one month of so-called 'teaching'.

"It will be about a man who has a hidden relationship with his co-worker and is set during their three-month anniversary." Naruto smacked himself on the forehead next to me. I chose to ignore it. "Nothing else, just a short play that touches the heart of the audience. Now, would you like to hear who qualified for this wonderful opportunity?"

Silence…

"_Would you like to hear?_"

"Hai, sensei!"

He clapped his hands again and beckoned to Kabuto, who scurried over like the lapdog he was and handed Orochimaru a sheet of paper with names on it.

"Right then, Nao will be played by…"

I shut my eyes and prayed.

"Uchiha!"

Screw you, God. (1)

Someone patted me on the back and a few scattered claps were heard here and there. I scowled at our 'sensei' as he continued down the list.

"And Kazu will be… Uzumaki."

More silence. The silence that settled all around you like a prickly blanket and made you _extremely_ uncomfortable. Well, this was certainly interesting. I'm sure every single person in the room realised immediately that both Nao and Kazu were male names. Oh yes, definitely interesting. And perverted. Very, very perverted.

Someone coughed and broke the tension, spurring everyone into shouting their surprise at once. Orochimaru waved his arms and Kabuto whistled loudly to shut them all up. Naruto and I were dead silent, unsure how to react, really. Then Naruto did the predictable and thrust his hand into the air.

"I am _so_ not getting down with a guy!"

Every single one of our friends clamped their hands over their mouths to hide their grins. Sai's snort was heard clearly over the class's laughter though. I wanted to smack him in the head for that one, I really did.

Orochimaru raised his eyebrows at Naruto and Kabuto suddenly appeared beside the blonde, bending down to speak in his ear. "Yes, you will."

Naruto gulped audibly and dropped his hand, but stayed in a defiant silence.

"We'll sort it out later," was all Orochimaru said before turning back to the class with that wide child-predator smile. "So, for homework you all have to write a three-minute play, then on Monday we'll combine ideas and get to work. Sound like fun?"

"Hai, sensei!"

We'd all learnt by now.

Can someone kill me? Please?

… Or ring the bell, either way is fine with me. Anything to end the torture of seriously wanting to brutally murder someone but not being able to do it is fine with me.

I followed the stunned class out the door as Orochimaru shouted after us, "Remember! Three minutes, no less!" and was yanked to the side the second I stepped out of the room by a very distressed-looking Naruto.

"Teme!" he whispered frantically. "What the hell are we gonna do? G-j-ugh! He's so…"

"Perverted?" I supplied.

"Yes!"

I snorted. "No shit."

He hit me on the arm and checked over his shoulder to see that everyone was pretty much out of the building and followed after them, dragging me behind and talking a mile a minute.

"But what do we do? How are we supposed to act? I mean, it's okay if our friends know, but everyone else? I don't think I can handle that just yet. I have no idea how to cope with it. Maybe I can talk to Shizune and she can talk to Tsunade for me. There's no _way_ he ran that by her and she cleared it. She'd have a freakin' _fit_! God, this sucks so bad. What if we accidentally get too into it or something and people figure it out! It's too soon! Oh, and I figured out what it was today, by the way."

I raised an eyebrow in question, even though he barely paused.

"It's our one month."

My steps faltered and I raised both eyebrows at him this time, my expression one of clear disbelief. "Wow…"

He grinned. "I know! I can't believe I've put up with you for a whole month already."

I glared at him and lifted my chin high. As if I was the unbearable one in this relationship.

He laughed threw his arm around my waist, a little happier now. "But we can't do anything because I have _loads_ of homework and it's a school night. Tomorrow's extra-curricular night, sooo… Friday?" He winked at me and I got a tad light-headed, but he suddenly looked a little pissed off. "Crap, Tsunade's having people around Friday night and says I've gotta be there or she'll strap me to a chair and force-feed me if she has to."

I snorted and he smacked me. I immediately changed my expression to that of mocking pity and moved closer to kiss him on the head. "How horrible for you."

"I know! Old hag…"

"That she is."

"Teme…?"

"Hm?"

"What if we have to kiss? On stage?"

"Then we kiss."

He paused a second before making fidgety motions with his free hand and saying, "What if we get a little… you know – _carried away_?"

I smirked. "Then we'll just be putting on a better performance, won't we?"

"Ugh, you're as perverted as him." He let go of my waist and took a couple of steps away. "I'm going home."

"Fine, but –"

I didn't even have to ask. The damn dobe knew me too well already.

He stepped towards me and kissed me lightly on the lips, his fingers tangling loosely with mine. He pulled back after a second and smirked.

"Can't go without your goodbye kiss, can you?"

I shook my head and kissed his nose. "No, they're too good."

He laughed and turned away, waving over his shoulder. "Well that's all you're getting. It'll keep you interested."

I shoved my hands in my pockets and shook my head with a smile, waiting until he was around the corner and on his way down the hill before turning around and heading towards the main building to get my maths homework out of my locker.

One month… wow. Really, I was proud of myself. It still hadn't quite sunk, I don't think. I mean, to me I was still Sasuke and he was still Naruto, and sometimes we were Sasuke _and_ Naruto, but it didn't feel real just yet. It was like I was still in dream land.

I smiled to myself as I took the stairs two at a time, thinking of all the possibilities Saturday could bring and thanking the God that had deserted me previously that I was working Sunday instead.

"I need it."

I snapped my head up, dragged out of my fantasy land by Shino's voice, closely followed by Kiba's taunting laugh.

"As if you do!"

I couldn't decide if that tone was one of flirting or genuine bullying.

"Believe it or not, yes, I do."

"Oh don't be so boring."

There were sounds of a scuffle and books being dropped to the floor as Shino said, "Kiba… get away from me."

That didn't sound too good…

I rounded the corner with a frown and whe-he-hey… I think maths homework can wait a day, to be honest. That didn't look like something that wanted to be interrupted.

Well, at least it was confirmed now.

Kiba and Shino were _definitely_ back together.

* * *

"And then I read six books on sword training in one night!"

"That's nice."

"And I learnt almost all of the moves in them with my practice equipment at home!"

"Uh-huh."

"And I felt the spirit of my youthfulness –"

"Lee?"

"Yes, my energetic friend?"

"Shut up."

He opened his mouth again but one look from Neji made him close it again and keep it that way. I smirked at my long-haired friend and he shook his head sadly. The peace and quiet didn't last for long, however, because that was when Naruto decided to come up behind me and put his hands on my waist. It was Neji's turn to smirk, and I was thankful Naruto had the decency to whisper, considering what he was saying.

Perhaps the boredom of waiting for the teacher was making him restless. Or he was just a typical horny teenage boy. Most likely the latter.

"You know, teme, when we do that play, I don't know if I'll be able to hold back."

My heart most certainly did _not_ flutter as his hot breath ran along my ear.

"I mean really, you in a suit, glasses, hot under the lights, a desk conveniently there…"

And my imagination was _not_ taking me places I really shouldn't be going in class.

"And if you do that _thing_ with your hips I might just go a little… out of control."

I did _not_ clear my throat and readjust my pants.

"You arsehole."

Naruto inconspicuously kissed the back of my neck and I felt his grin through it, the cocky bastard. No thought for anyone who might be watching, despite our place in the back corner of the room, and no thought for what he was doing to me. Typical.

"Orochimaru in a dress, Orochimaru in a dress…" Could he at least move away from my neck when he talked?

I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw, mumbling under my breath, "I'd rather _you_ in a dress."

He laughed. Away from the neck, Naruto, _away_ from the neck. "Would you really?"

I thought for a moment before wrinkling my nose. "No, on second thoughts, I really wouldn't. Guys dressed as girls don't really do it for me, you see."

He put his chin on my shoulder, fingers tightening on my hips, and made a sound of agreement. "Aah yes, I understand."

"Just as well."

He laughed and kissed me again quickly before stepping back and wandering off to talk to Sai. Leaving me to my own little corner of the gym and a smirking Hyuuga not so far away. I glared him down until the gym doors opened with a gust of cool air and in walked our teacher.

… Him? Was he even alive?

The entire class went silent as we watched him walk to the centre of the basketball court. I'd seen him around before, but never in one of his classes or up close, and – well… He's kinda dead-looking. Huge bags under his eyes, a slight limp, coughing every two steps, incredibly pale skin (though, admittedly, not as pale as Kisame's), and a voice that was pretty much begging for death.

"Good afternoon everyone, gather round, gather round. My voice doesn't carry that far."

No shit.

Everyone shuffled in closer, creating a large circle around him.

"You can call me sensei, Hayate, Hayate-sensei, I don't really mind and I'm not that fond of last names, so whatever." He interrupted himself to cough a few times before continuing. "Sorry I haven't been here for the last two classes, I've been quite ill, you see. But we carry on, don't we? Same thing… every day…"

I raised an eyebrow and caught a few confused looks from my friends. Great – dead _and_ depressed. What a winning combination.

"Anyway, we're all here for the fencing class? Well it's more sword-fighting, but we're not allowed to do that so we have to call it fencing. Yes, no, maybe, anyone unsure if they're meant to be here or not? No? Good, so I guess I should lay down the rules. As you can tell my voice is weak –" another interrupting series of coughs. "So if you talk when I'm talking it really won't be appreciated. There's no excuses for being late or leaving early unless you have a note, no foul language or foul play, no actual weapons that can cause serious damage will be used in this class, you will respect everyone around you when we're doing drills, and you will not try to harm anyone on purpose. Is that clear?"

"Hai, sensei!"

Cough cough cough.

"Good, now hands up who's done any form of sword fighting before?"

I few tentative hands went up, mine included, and I took the time to notice Tenten, Naruto, Sai, Lee and Haku's hands amongst the mix. So, the girly-boy knew how to fight, huh?

Hayate-sensei nodded and took in all the raised hands, counting them. "Eight of you? That's great. Who wants to give a demonstration?"

The lazy-arse just couldn't be bothered teaching, I'll bet. He looked entirely disinterested.

Lee's hand shot straight up into the air with a "Please, sir! Please, I will! I've never fought before but I've trained on my own!"

Hayate considered him for a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry, we need two people who've done actual fighting so that we can show the class how you should move with an opponent."

The crushed look on Lee's face was enough to break anyone's heart.

Haku raised a hand slowly, "I – I have…"

Hayate nodded. "Good, anyone else?"

I surprised myself by raising my own hand into the air and saying, "I'll fight him."

A few people turned to me with equally shocked looks. Yes, Sasuke voluntarily taking part in a class, much less in front of everyone, was an amazing thing. Naruto grinned at me and I glared. Damn dobe, thought I was doing this because of him. Pfft, sif.

I wanted to know just what Haku had up his sleeve, to be honest. He was small so he would be fast, but probably not very strong, and the fact that he could fight at all was surprising. Then again, never judge a book by its cover.

"Uchiha, is it?"

I nodded.

"And… sorry, I don't know your name."

"Haku. Just Haku."

Hayate's expression didn't change at all at the strangeness of only having one name, and instead nodded, motioning for some random kid that I didn't know to hand him the wooden training swords (2) that were lying in wait on the side benches.

"Everyone grab a training sword and follow my warm-up motions. Don't worry about your gear – we won't be doing anything to drastic today that you'll need protection from."

Boring boring boring. I hated warming up – I'd rather just jump to it and fight whoever I had to fight – but no, I had to warm up first. We bent this way and that, lifted the sword and held it there, dropped it lower and held it there as well, then stretched our arms and legs and necks and finally we can fight.

Haku and I were beckoned out to the front of the class amid a scattered applause that was only there out of politeness. Hayate-sensei put a hand on both of our shoulders and said warningly, "No intentionally causing harm to each other, got it? Love taps only, kids. I assume you both know the proper formalities?"

We both nodded.

"Good, then hop to it."

Haku and I stared each other in the eye, sizing each other up before bowing shortly and crossing swords. They made a dull _thwack_ as they tapped together. We each took three steps back, and waited in silence for the other to make the first move.

From somewhere on the sidelines Hayate-sensei was telling the class what to look for in the mock fight, but I got the feeling that neither of us were really listening. We were too intent on the other to pay much attention.

Then suddenly Haku moved and holy _shit_ the kid's fast.

He came at me from the left before suddenly changing direction and appearing at my right. I only just blocked his strike in time, the two lengths of wood clacking together a second time before he came from behind me. I spun around, barely keeping up as he darted to every side, striking wherever he could.

Okay, I thought he'd be fast, but he must've been training since he could walk to be _this_ fast. Seriously, he was a blur running in circles around me – a blur with a giant stick of wood that kept attacking me, at that.

Left, right, front, back, shoulders, knees, waist – he was attacking everywhere, and I was only just fast enough to stop him. I had no time to even think about attacking for myself and had to remain on the defensive. Even though we were forbidden from hurting each other, I didn't doubt for a second that he would try. He just seemed like that sort of person. All innocent smiles, then turn your back and he'd shoot you in the head without a second thought.

I narrowed my eyes and spun on the spot, darting every which way but still unable to get a shot in, and soon started to tire. He was just too fast for me, and when my blocks got slower I knew I had to pull myself together before I made a fool of myself in front of everyone. In front of Naruto.

Then he clipped me in the back of the knees when I was just a split second too slow, and I stumbled. Then the right shoulder, the left hip, left knee, and I knew I couldn't go on like this – I could never win. I told myself I was overreacting, but I knew that I really wasn't. Something about that new kid made me think that he considered himself above us, that he was secretly laughing at us all behind our backs. And that didn't sit well with me – not at all.

This fight was a way to tell him that he didn't belong here, and it'd take a hell of a lot more than a month for him to be accepted in this school. You had to work your way to the top here, and I didn't spend the last three and a half years proving to everyone that I was above them for some punk that looked like a girl to show me up.

I had to stop and think.

I held up a hand and Haku paused, millimetres away from tapping me on the shoulder again.

"Wait… I just… need – need to… catch my breath…"

I hunched over for a second to calm my breathing, and closed my eyes. I focused on my heartbeat and slowed my whole body down, finding that 'zone' that my old instructor told me about.

It was there, way deep down – I just had to find it.

He's not faster than me, he's not stronger than me, he's not smarter than me.

I repeated that to myself over and over as I stood and stared Haku in the eye, slowly raising my training sword to waist height.

Hayate spoke up from the sidelines, but he sounded so distant that I could only just make out the words.

"That was excellent, boys, now –"

"We're not done yet," Haku interrupted, eyes still not leaving mine.

"Excuse me?"

"He said we're not done yet," I repeated loudly.

Hayate coughed and covered his mouth with his hand, waving the other in the air to get us to pay attention. Neither of us did. We were too busy staring each other down again.

"I'm the teacher here, you have to do as I say, and I say that was great now stop."

I didn't even bother answering, and took a half-step towards Haku to bring him back into action before taking my foot back and spinning, putting all my weight on it. Haku came past me and I predicted where he was going to go by the angle of his body, intercepting his movements and tapping him lightly on the back of his left leg before darting off and away, sword at the ready.

Haku whirled around, girly hair flying like in one of those horrible shampoo ads, and looked entirely stunned. His eyes were wide for a moment before he narrowed them dangerously and rushed towards me. I knocked him out of the way easily, smirking to myself.

It was always like this once I got into the mood, got my mind focused.

The whole world dissolved until all that was left was you and your opponent…

… and Naruto's voice screeching in the crowd.

"Go you good thing! Kick his arse! Go Sasuke!"

He'd never change, that kid.

Haku must have thought I was distracted by the sudden shout and tried to get my knees, but I dodged easily and hit him in the small of his back. It was too easy now, everything seemed to be slowed down to half the speed while I was still running on normal. I got him again and again, hitting him three times for every single shot he got at me, and before long it was Haku out of breath instead of me.

I tapped him slightly harder on the shoulder and saw him wince a little, dropping his weapon and raising his other hand in surrender.

I paused just above his left knee and smirked up at him.

"Giving up so soon?"

He scowled and looked like Sakura when she was a Prime Murder Suspect. "Keep smirking, Uchiha. Someday you'll be on the ground beaten to a pulp because of your attitude."

I raised an eyebrow and stood up straight. "Oh? And you won't?"

He scoffed. "Not likely."

I gave him a condescending smile, as if he was a little toddler who'd drawn on the wall. "Keep thinking like that and you _will_ get beaten to a pulp. Always assume that there's someone stronger than you, someone faster and someone smarter. In this case, it's me."

Apparently he had nothing to say to that, and so turned his back on me to face Hayate-sensei, bowed, and left the room in total silence. Every pair of eyes watched him as he stalked out in a huff, aware that something huge had just gone down but not fully understanding what it was.

"Woo! Go Sasuke!"

Naruto needed better timing skills.

* * *

**(1)** I'm not religious, Sasuke's not religious, so I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I'm not gonna change that, and expect some more in the future.

**(2)** I don't know if these things have a name… in fact, I don't even know if the real swords have a name apart from just 'sword', so for now… they'll just be training ones.

So, another chapter down. I may not be able to update on time next week because I have a lot happening and won't have much time to write, but I'll try my best, I promise! Thank you EVERYONE who's stuck with both stories so far XD -glomps-


	7. Pwned

Do I smell a plot coming along? I think I do… Oh wait, maybe that's next chapter. Haha.

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

7. PWNED

"Take it."

"No."

"Do it."

"No!"

"Itachi…"

"What?"

I calmly put the bottle of pills on the bench and stooped down so that I was level with my brother, seated on a chair. I stared him down until he squirmed, doing that neat little trick I can do with my eyes that I _know_ makes everyone uncomfortable. I can't actually tell what happens to them, but Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru assure me that it freaks them out to no end. I'd discovered that it only worked on Itachi when he was in a very non-Itachi mood, because really, _nothing_ compared to his crazy eyes.

"Swallow it."

"Dun' wanna."

"Stop being difficult."

"Your face is difficult!"

"That doesn't even make sense."

"You don't make sense!"

Argh! I challenge you all to answer me – how am I still sane?!

My palm connected with my forehead with a satisfying _smack_ and I groaned to myself in frustration, trying my utmost to hold back the animalistic urge to throttle the damn psycho.

"Itachi, you will take those pills or I will forcibly shove them down your throat. Which would you prefer?"

He wriggled in his seat and shook his head firmly, a pout set in place that didn't seem like it was going anywhere. "Why do I have to take them, anyway?"

I sighed and used the same excuse I'd been using for the past four days. "Because you'll die. Enough said. Now _swallow it_."

He wriggled again and closed his fist around the tablet I pushed into his palm, glaring down at it before turning his eyes on me. "Will I really?"

I nodded. "Yes, yes you will."

He huffed and cursed and did everything a six year old would do in this situation before grudgingly throwing the pill into his mouth and taking a huge gulp of water to wash it down. Once he swallowed, he opened his mouth wide and made an 'aah' noise.

"All gone."

"Move your tongue."

He did so, and when I was satisfied that he wasn't hiding it anywhere I tapped him on the nose and sent him on his way. He launched himself off the stool and barrelled off into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

I hit my head on the bench repeatedly.

I couldn't _wait_ until the damn things kicked in properly.

A hand squeezed my shoulder and made me look up, straight into a pair of brilliant blue eyes smiling at me. I did a pathetic half-smile back before returning my head to its previous monotonous rhythm.

"You did good, man. No yelling this time."

I grunted in response, straightening up and sitting down heavily on the stool my brother was previously occupying. Naruto moved to stand behind me, slinking his arms around my neck.

"I still haven't told you off about that, by the way."

"About what?"

"About the way you treated him."

I scowled and shook him off. "I've already had an earful from Sakura and his doctor. I don't need another one."

He moved so he was standing in front of me, and shook his head. "But still…"

I clenched my jaw and ran a hand through my hair, standing off the stool and moving to the fridge. "Look, you try living with him for a week. Let's see how sane you are after that. I lost it, okay, I know that. I don't need another person saying how horrible I am for telling my brother the truth. Sure, I could've been nicer, but then I wouldn't have vented properly and it would've been worse the next time around. So just… just don't. He's on new medication that will actually work this time, so it'll all be fine. All… fine."

That wasn't supposed to sound so unconvinced.

I pulled out a Pepsi and slammed the fridge door shut, not bothering to get one out for Naruto, and stalked off to the living room where I slumped down onto one of the large armchairs, glaring full-force at the ceiling.

Naruto appeared in front of me a few seconds later looking truly apologetic, and sat down at my feet, leaning his back against my legs. "I'm sorry."

I sighed and rubbed at my eyes. "It's fine."

And that was that.

Naruto nodded and reached over to the remote to flick the television on, surfing through channels until he came to some obnoxiously loud quiz show. We watched in silence, each thinking our own thoughts, until suddenly Naruto said, "You were awesome yesterday, by the way."

It took me a second to realise what he was talking about, and when I did I merely shrugged. "Eh."

"No really, it was so cool."

"Um… Thanks."

Naruto spun around to face me, chin resting on my knees. "Tomorrow – let's fight. No one will be home because they've all got some meeting or other, so we can use the space on the second floor without interruptions."

I thought for a moment, flicking my teeth absently on the edge of the can. "Why tomorrow?"

He shrugged. "Think of it as an anniversary present."

"You said you didn't want a present."

"I changed my mind."

"Clearly."

"So… gonna fight me?"

I smirked to myself as I weighed my options. A fight with Naruto could end either one of three ways: he would be unconscious on the ground, _I _would be unconscious on the ground (though that was highly unlikely), or we would get a little... hot and bothered. I was willing to take the chance.

"Of course."

He grinned at me and laughed a little to himself before checking his watch. His face dropped to a frustrated scowl as he said, "The hag will want me home in -"

"Sasuke-e…?"

Both our heads snapped up to the direction of Itachi's room, and I stood up so fast that I knocked Naruto forwards onto the floor. He landed with a loud 'oof!' but I ignored him, bolting around the corner and straight into my brother's room.

He was sitting on his bed with his head in his hands, scratching at his scalp and pulling his hair. He looked at me when I crouched down in front of him, my heart hammering in my chest and praying to the big man up in the sky that seemed to desert me in crucial moments that it wasn't what I thought it was.

Shit.

"Naruto!" I called out.

"My head hurts…" Itachi whispered.

"Yeah?" the blonde answered from the door.

I looked over to him sharply and made quick motions with my hands. "Go home. Now."

He looked at me in confusion and took a few steps into the room. "Why?"

"Just get out!"

Itachi reached out to tug on my sleeve. "Sasuke? Why does it hurt?"

I put both hands on my brother's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes, willing him to calm down with everything I had. "You'll be fine, bro, just breathe. Deep breaths, that's it."

Naruto was crouching right next to me now, face etched with intense worry. "Sasuke…?"

"I said get out, Naruto!" I snapped.

He looked hurt but I didn't have time to feel guilty – there were much more important things happening.

Itachi made a noise of distress as Naruto slowly stood and backed away, only to have my brother latch onto his sleeve, the movement lightning fast.

"Who are you?" Itachi's voice was deep and dangerous, almost mocking.

Naruto visibly shook. "N-Naruto…"

"Were you there? Did you see it? Were you someone else who escaped my grasp, just like my brother? Did I leave you behind as well?"

"Don't answer, Naruto," I said quietly, reaching out to pry his finger's off my boyfriend's jumper. "Just back away and ignore him."

"Bu-But..."

I shook my head. "You can't do anything except leave. So go! I don't want you to have to –"

"Shut up!" Itachi shouted, right in my ear. "You shouldn't even be alive! You're only here because they begged, don't _ever_ forget that. I call the shots around here, got it? So you can all just _shut up_! I have a headache!"

I successfully pried Itachi away from Naruto, who took several steps back until he was standing in the doorway. My brother shoved both hands in his hair again, needing something to twist and play with, and continued muttering to himself under his breath. I couldn't hear all of what he was saying, but I got the gist that he didn't think I should be here, that I shouldn't be alive.

"Naruto, _get_ – _the_ _hell_ – _out_!"

He seemed to struggle with himself for a moment before shaking his head determinedly and staying right were he was, feet planted firmly on the ground.

I would have hit him. I really would've.

"He can stay if he wants, _brother_." A pale hand reached out and latched itself onto my throat, applying just enough pressure to get me worried. "I'm sure he'd like to see his pathetic friend die, wouldn't he?"

I gripped his hand in mine, but he always seemed to get superhuman strength in times like this, so pulling him off me was in no way an easy task. He laughed in my face and I did my best to avoid looking into his eyes. Anything but his eyes.

"You can see it, can't you? You remember it. You were there. You can see their bodies in your mind, all cut up, bleeding, on the ground, dead together. And everyone else, everyone, everywhere, no one alive. And do you want to know _why_ I did it? _Why_ they all had to die? I did it for you, Sasuke! All for you!"

His other hand joined the one already at my throat, and I heard Naruto make a sound of indecision before rushing up to me and shouting at Itachi to get off me, to let me go, and struggling to yank his hands away from me.

"Naruto!" I gasped. "Get… the fuck… away!"

"As if I'd let the crazy shit kill you!"

Itachi cackled loudly and got a hungry look about him, almost drooling. He took one look at Naruto before snaking his hand out and latching onto him again, digging his fingers in deep to make removing them virtually impossible. Naruto tried, of course he did, but my brother wouldn't budge.

"You want a demonstration, bro? You want me to show you what I'm going to do to you? I can use him, you know. I can kill him exactly how I killed them."

His fingers tightened and I felt my breaths coming in shorter, more desperate. They must have tightened around Naruto's wrist as well, because I heard him make a little whimper of discomfort before drawing in a sharp breath. At least the kid could breathe.

"I can tell you and then show you. Or give you a running commentary. Which would you prefer?"

"Sasuke, I'm gonna punch him one. I swear, if he doesn't shut up soon I'll do it."

I snapped my gaze over to him angrily, still grappling with the hand at my throat. "No! You… you can't. Trust me."

I turned back to my brother and scowled the best I could in my current situation, debating whether or not to take the blood gamble and dig my nails into his skin to get him off me. It wasn't worth it, I decided. This time seemed to be worse than the last, and if he saw blood… well, I didn't doubt for a second that he'd take himself up on the offer to kill me.

"Let… me go."

He laughed loudly this time, and hissed at Naruto as he tried to struggle again. "How about I explain it first and then show you how it's done? First you slice them behind their knees and watched them fall helplessly to the ground, then drag the blade up from their left hip to their right shoulder, twisting it so there's more blood and more screams. Are you getting this, bro? Are you imagining me killing our mother? She screamed the most, especially when I cut her stomach. Screamed a little too much for my liking so I slit her throat. Can you see it, bro? Can you see the blood on the ground, pooling around her?"

I closed my eyes, fighting the images coming unbidden into my mind.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said, clearly telling me that he wasn't going to listen to what I said and go ahead, punching my brother's lights out.

"You… can't –"

"Shut up! Both of you shut up!"

And I looked into his eyes. I froze. I was gone.

It was like he was a projector and my mind was the screen – so many fake images being shown to me all at once, all the possibilities, what might have happened had what my brother remembered actually been real. So many dead bodies, so much blood. I felt all the colour draining from my face and I slumped forwards, unable to stop thinking of every worst-case scenario, replaying them all over and over until I could feel it etching itself into my memory.

But none of it was real. _None of it was real!_

I cried out and wrenched his hands off me, stumbling backwards as Naruto pushed all of his weight onto him and held his arms down at his sides, pinning him to the bed.

The screams were the worst I'd heard yet, but I couldn't cover my ears, instead aiding Naruto as my brother thrashed. He screamed all sorts of obscenities at us as he twisted and turned, trying to struggle out of our grasp.

But our combined strength was too much for him, even in this state of mind, and soon he gave up, breathing heavily.

"I'll get you too," he spat. "My promises to spare you mean nothing now."

"Itachi," I said evenly, "I want you to take deep breaths and calm down. Look at me, only at me. Nothing else. Ignore Naruto, he's not here, got it? So just look at me and breathe. I'm all that matters. Breathe, that's it. In and out, good, in and out. Keep going, good on you. One after the other, that's right. In… and out… in… and out…"

Naruto was doing his special whispering trick again, leaning down close and concocting all sorts of crap to get him to calm down.

"Keep breathing, keep going."

I slowly released my grip on his arms, indicating for Naruto to do the same, and eventually he was lying down calmly on his own, breathing slowly. His head slumped to the side as he fell asleep, worn out from the mental strain, and Naruto reached out to take my hand, squeezing it lightly

I looked up at him and smiled weakly, reaching my other hand up to rub my throat tenderly. I'd probably have bruises after that.

"No wonder you yelled," he whispered.

I nodded. "And that's not the worst one."

We slowly clambered down off the bed and stood by the door, watching my brother's chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm. I don't know about Naruto, but my heart was still pounding in my ears, fake memories still running around and around and around in my skull.

I pressed my free hand to my forehead and took a deep breath. Air was good. Air was very good.

My hand was slowly pulled away, only to be replaced fleetingly by Naruto's lips before he wrapped his arms around me.

"Shit…"

I gave a self-depreciative laugh. "You can say that again."

* * *

I rested my head against the closed front door and uttered a string of very colourful words under my breath, cursing my brother, my parents, and damn medication to some places that I'm sure were quite dreadful.

That done, I felt I could face the world, and so turned to the letter in my hand that Naruto had just informed me was sticking out of the letterbox. At first I thought it was a bill, then I realised they'd already come on Wednesday, and it wasn't dark blue so it couldn't be from our parents. That left one other person.

I glanced down and checked the stamp in the top right corner, grimacing as I realised I was right.

Wellington College.

Crap.

I threw it on the couch and reached out for the cordless, sitting a safe distance away from the offending bundle of paper. I dialled Shikamaru's number, cringing at how pathetic I was but deciding that I was in a moment of need and so it didn't count.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Nara-san, it's Sasuke."

"Sasuke? Hi love, would you like to speak to my useless excuse for a son?"

I laughed weakly. "Uh, yes please."

I heard her footsteps on the stairs as she made her way up to Shikamaru's room. "I've barely seen him lately – all he does is spend time with that _woman_ of his."

I smiled. "She'll be good for him, I guarantee it."

She scoffed as she knocked on the door. "She better be. Shikamaru, open up! Phone! Take care, Sasuke."

A few thumps and curses later and my friend was on the phone. "H'lo?"

"Yo, it's me."

He yawned loudly. "He-e-ey… whassup?"

I raised my eyebrows and lay back against the couch cushions, keeping a wary eye on the still-unopened letter. "Sleeping, I take it?"

"Can't get enough of it."

"Clearly. Anyway, come over. Now. I need to show you something."

"What did he do this time?"

I knitted my eyebrows together in confusion. "Who?"

"Itachi."

Oh… How the _hell_ did he pick that up? He was getting more and more people-genius lately, and it was starting to get a little unnerving.

"Same as usual… Naruto was here though."

That got his attention.

"He what? Did you try and get him out? What did he do to him?"

"If you come over I'll explain. And I gotta show you this thing, anyway."

He huffed and I could just imagine him wriggling uncomfortably as he tried to decide between even more sleep and seeing a friend. Yes, they were the important decisions in his life. God, that kid had it easy.

"Fine, give me fifteen."

"Will do."

I hung up and threw the phone next to the waiting letter, narrowing my eyes at the roof. Clasping my fingers together over my stomach, I waited nervously for Shikamaru to arrive, my mind strangely… empty. All the while I was expecting Itachi to wake up with a serious headache and start crying on my shoulder as he so often did afterwards, but thankfully it didn't happen.

Fifteen minutes passed and there was Shikamaru at my door, right on time and looking as bored as ever.

"Yo."

I lifted my hand and stepped aside to let him in. "Hey."

He stepped past me and headed straight for the couch, sitting down with a heavy sigh and a "The things I do for you, man. I could so be sleeping right now."

I closed the door and headed to the fridge, saying over my shoulder, "It's a wonder you're so smart. You don't give your poor brain any exercise."

I heart him snort as I retrieved two soft drinks from the shelf. "I work out the average velocity of low-flying sparrows in my dreams – that should be enough to keep it alive."

I laughed and came back into the living room, throwing the can at him and smirking as he 'oofed' when it hit him in the stomach. He glared at me and popped it open.

"So where is he?"

"Which one?" I sat down on the armchair opposite and took a drink, folding my legs underneath me.

"The crazed one."

I shrugged. "Sleeping, I think. He has been for the last half hour or so, so he'll probably wake up soon…"

"I'll go, don't worry. So what did I get dragged around here for?"

I nodded at the couch. "You're sitting on it."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"No, you really are. It's a letter."

His expression changed from confusion to realisation and he shifted so he could pull the letter out from beneath him, smoothing it out and staring down at it with a creased brow.

I waited for recognition to hit… There it is.

His eyes went surprisingly wide for Shikamaru, and he looked up to me then back down again. "That's your new school, right?"

I nodded.

"So… why isn't it opened?"

I didn't answer.

"You're taking the cheap way out."

Bastard.

He huffed. "Ugh, so -"

"I know, don't say it. Just read the damn thing so I don't have to."

"I knew you didn't want to go."

"I do!"

He snorted and ran his finger along the envelope to open it. "Whatever, man. Whatever."

I glared him down as he scanned over the words, finishing the first page quickly and raising his eyebrows when he got to the second.

"What is it?" I asked a little nervously. I had no idea what elaborate excuse they were going to make up for Itachi, and I seriously wasn't looking forward to telling him in his current state. The medication he was on now would be messing with his head while it all readjusted and settled down, and the slightest thing could set him off. It should only take a couple more days for him to get accustomed, so maybe I could explain it to him then and be safe.

Shikamaru whistled under his breath, eyebrows climbing steadily higher.

"Well the first page is from some Sarutobi geezer and he's crapping on about how awesome you are for getting a scholarship to their 'prestigious learning institute', how you will be welcome to start next term so that you can get 'accustomed to the environment that you will be studying in for your future education, and to get acquainted with current students attending the school. We wish to make your time here at Wellington College as enjoyable as possible and are looking forward to seeing you here shortly.' Wow, what kind of school is this anyway?"

"A posh one."

He snorted. "Huh, figures."

"What's the second page?"

He looked at me and tilted his head to the side. "Just how much do your parents hate Itachi?"

My heart beat faster and I leant forward in my chair a little, shifting uncomfortably. "Why? What are they going to do?"

He turned his gaze back to the paper in front of him and said, "There's a few options."

"Such as…?"

"An asylum where they will 'hopefully keep him under lock and key', leave him to his own devices but cut off the money supply that they'd been sending for you, put him in some sort of home or throw him off a bridge. All the nice stuff."

I dropped my now empty can to the floor where it made a light _thwump_ sound on the carpet. They… Did they have no freaking _soul_?! How could they possibly consider any of those options for their eldest son? Sure he'd gone a little off-track, but seriously – what the _hell_?

And it's all your fault.

… I hate you, conscience.

It wasn't my fault – it couldn't be. All I did was accept a proposition, nothing else.

Yeah, but in doing so you screwed up life for your brother and left all your friends behind, all because you're a selfish prick who wants power.

It's… it's not the power.

Then what is it?

It's to show my father that I'm worth noticing too. That Itachi going nuts didn't mean that the business was lost. That there's _another_ son, damnit.

And that's not selfish?

"Shit."

I looked up at Shikamaru, thanking him with my eyes for stopping my inner turmoil. "What does the rest of it say?" My voice sounded so pathetic.

He gave me a calculating look before scanning the page again. "Your plane ticket should be here within a month, they want your measurements for the uniform and they want you to tell Itachi as soon as possible and arrange what's going to happen – they're leaving it up to you. Then there's stuff about how you're report was great but what about your art grades? Even though you won't be doing it once you move you still have to be top in everything. Arsehole."

"Yep."

"Your father's rung Tsunade and talked to her, and he says you're not to be continuing drama when you get there. Wow, he really likes controlling people, doesn't he? Uh… blah, blah, blah… it's a great opportunity… looking forward to training you… he expects you to do well… and your mother's added at the bottom that she hopes you're eating well. Sound about right?"

I nodded slowly and bent forwards to pick up my can, rolling it between my palms absently as I thought. "What… what am I going to do about him?"

Shikamaru sighed and threw the latter to the ground, kicking his feet up and lying back on the couch with an arm thrown over his eyes. "I don't know – what about Kisame?"

I tilted my head in thought. That could work. There was no way I was sending him anywhere that he wasn't familiar with – that'd play havoc with his mind to no end.

"I'll have to tell him…"

Shikamaru nodded. "Der."

I scowled. "Shut up."

He sighed just as there was a dull thud from Itachi's bedroom, and by God I don't think I'll ever see him move that fast ever again in this lifetime or the next. He was at the door in a second, calling as he went, "You'll work it out, you're not a genius for nothing."

Hn.

* * *

"And so… we fight."

"Don't hold back."

I smirked. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Naruto cracked his neck on both sides and balanced his weight. "Prepare to be floored."

It took him a split second to reach me, lunging straight for my face with a fist. He moved fast and so suddenly that I didn't have time to react, and found myself flat on my back right off the bat, a bruise already forming along my cheekbone.

He loomed above me and I gritted my teeth, pushing him up and away from me as I clambered to my feet.

"Gotcha, teme."

I merely scowled, not wasting energy on useless words, and punched him solidly in the gut. I would have felt bad for putting so much power behind it, but… well, I didn't. This was a fight, and boyfriends or not, I was going to win.

He was pushed back a few steps from the force of my fist, but came barrelling straight back towards me within a matter of seconds. I took his fast recovery time into my calculations.

I stepped forward slightly to meet him and dodged the punch he threw at my head, swinging my leg up and kicking him square in the jaw. He spun away from me, only to follow through with a kick of his own, and I was caught by surprise again. A bruise to match the one he'd given me previously was sure to show up sometime soon on the opposite cheek.

Not two minutes in and I'd already given him two openings – what was I doing? He seriously wasn't holding back. It was an anything-goes fight, and he had some serious power behind those legs. But then again, so did I.

Enough dancing, Sasuke. Get serious. Assume he's stronger, faster, and smarter.

Even though he's definitely not the latter.

I came forward to meet him yet again, and on the pretence of side-stepping, gave him another strike to the stomach, pausing a second for dramatic effect before following through and pushing him away. He stumbled back and nearly tripped over his own feet before regaining his balance and narrowing his eyes at me.

"Good shot, teme. Not holding back, I see."

"Of course not, but you can't win me over by brute force, dobe."

We both dashed towards each other at the same time.

"I can sure as hell try!"

We both punched at the same time, catching the other's fists before pushing away. I took the offensive immediately, ducking to the side and sweeping out with my foot and following through with my other. I clipped him in the back of the head and he went sprawling.

His quick recovery time meant he was back on his feet in an instant, more fired up than ever and sporting an enormous grin.

"I'm gonna beat you!"

I tutted. Strange, strange child.

He came at me blindly, his intentions obvious, and I moved with him. I tried not to make a mocking comment, but really, he was so predictable.

Okay, maybe not.

I thought he was going for my head yet again, but he stepped awkwardly around me and swept my feet out from under, pushing me in the back at the same time. I went careering forwards onto my stomach and heard a dull thud from behind me.

After cursing myself for being so stupid to get tricked by _Naruto_ of all people for the third time in under ten minutes, I kicked myself into a standing position to see him doing the same. That made me grin a little.

The dobe had tripped himself at the same time.

This wasn't going anywhere – I needed a plan. And of course, being the genius I was, it took me less than two seconds to come up with one. He recognised my smirk as a bad sign and rebalanced himself, raising his fists at the ready. We were both breathing heavily by now.

I took the two steps needed to reach him, and suddenly we were going at it, putting ourselves in entirely. His hands moved lightning fast as we moved, and I found myself comparing him to Haku.

Of course, the smaller boy was faster and smarter, but Naruto had more force and a truckload more determination to prove himself to me, so it was hard to decide which was a more intimidating opposition.

We danced around each other, blocking punches and kicks, one after the other, so fast I was amazed we were keeping up with the other. Then I saw my opening as he jumped to avoid a sweep of my foot, and I followed through to kick him in the face a second time. He spun away from me and I chased him, refusing to let him get away. I grabbed his shoulder and twisted him back around to face me, ducking the blow he sent my way and answering with two of my own in quick succession.

The first to his face, and the second to his left shoulder with all the force I had.

I may have heard something crack, but I'm not sure.

"Fuck!" he cried, face twisted in pain.

My eyes widened in shock that I'd actually hurt him, but had no time to react as the momentum from my attack sent my straight into him. My reflexes decided to take a vacation after the intense workout, and my knee buckled beneath me. I knew that regaining my balance was next to impossible, so in a desperate attempt at staying upright I reached out to grab the opposite shoulder to the one I'd possibly damaged, and pushed him down before me.

The end result was nothing short of fantastic, I can assure you.

He was flat on his back, sweaty and completely out of breath, while I was above him propped up by my arms. My right knee was wedged between his legs, the other stretched out to the side, and the most coherent thing I could think was 'well, isn't this favourable?'

We were both panting heavily, trying to get as much air back into our lungs – even though if I had anything to say about it we'd be even more oxygen-deprived shortly.

You can't blame me for being perverted when there was a sweaty Sex God pinned beneath me.

Naruto, host to a super fast recovery speed, spoke first. "I swear… I swear you broke something."

I creased my brow in concern and managed to force out a, "Are you… okay?" in between breaths.

He groaned and nodded. "Yeah, but… far out. I hate you."

I snorted. "Happy one month… to you too."

He gave a half-arsed laugh and reached up a lazy hand to ruffle my hair. "Where'd you learn to _move_ like that?"

I shrugged, my breath coming a little easier now. "Oh, just some guy that knew this other guy who… who knew my dad's cousin's friend's neighbour who in turn told my cousin's friend, who told my cousin – who told my dad who forced me."

He blinked slowly at me, waiting for it all to sink in. Apparently he couldn't keep up with that and shook his head violently to get it all out. "I was so about to win."

I raised my eyebrows. "So you admit defeat?"

He paused in thought before saying, "Best of three?"

I laughed and shook my head, blowing my fringe out of my eyes and taking a huge gulp of air. Oh yes, air is wonderful. "I beat you, dobe."

"I'm not feeling the best today – must be something in the food last night. And I'm running on four hours of sleep with is _nothing_ compared to the nine I usually get. I have to be fully operational, which I so am not right now, for it to be a fair match. I could definitely kick your arse next time. And you fucking clocked my shoulder! What the hell am I meant to do with one arm in a fight, huh? You play dirty."

I cocked an eyebrow, staring down at him expectantly. "Any more excuses?"

"… Maybe."

We were silent for a moment, before Naruto coughed awkwardly and said, "Teme, you're in a very suggestive position right now."

I stared. "Dobe, we just beat the crap out of each other. I'm going to have two disgusting bruises on both cheeks by the end of the day, and I think I've done some damage to your shoulder."

He shrugged said shoulder and shook his head. "Nah, I'll be fine." He pouted. "But… but I'm feeling very restless."

I cocked an eyebrow in silent response.

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea that you're on top of me."

My other eyebrow joined the one already raised.

"Because I might get the wrong idea and do something drastic."

"Such as…?"

"Well –"

I shook my head. "Wait, are you actually going to follow through with it this time?"

He tilted his head to the side in question.

"I mean that you always suggest stuff playfully but it never actually happens. We haven't… you know."

Well that was fast.

In a flash his right hand was at the back of my neck and yanking me forwards as his left gripped my hip, pushing me flush against him. He kissed me ferociously despite our battle not so long ago, pulling me almost painfully close. It was bordering on desperate this time, and I couldn't help thinking that I wasn't the only one who'd wanted to do this for a _very_ long time.

His mouth attacked my own and I didn't even bother trying to take the dominating role, letting him flip our positions so that he was above me. In truth I didn't mind the domineering Naruto – he was sexy as all hell once he got going.

It had nothing to do with me being worn out from the fight. No, no it didn't.

His tongue pried my lips open without much resistance on my part, and he traced familiar patterns all around, dragging sounds out of me that only he ever could. It was a talent of his, you see.

As his mouth worked its magic at rendering me senseless, both of us gasping for breaths occasionally, his hands moved from my hair to my hips, holding them both down as he slowly pressed himself against me. I moaned into his mouth at the sensation, looping my arms around his neck and bringing him impossibly closer.

And then one of his fingers slipped beneath my waistband and my brain went into overload at the possibility of what was to come, making me kiss him back that little bit harder and moan that little bit louder. Mind you, I certainly wasn't the only one making noise – Naruto was doing his fair share as well, thanks to me.

I slipped my hands under his singlet top and pulled away just long enough to say, "Off. Now," before he lifted his arms and allowed me to slide it over his head, throwing it… somewhere.

When he brought his arms back down he didn't repeat the same action on me as I expected him to, but picked up both my hands in his own and brought them together over my head, nudging me so that I tilted it to the side and gave him better access.

A trail was kissed from my earlobe after a quick bite, down to my collar bone and back up to the junction of my neck and shoulder where he bit down hard before licking the assaulted area.

And to think I was leaving this genius behind…

My thought ended there as Naruto lowered his hips against mine a second time, and a third, and I gave in to the sensations. I had to bite my lip to stop a particularly desperate cry of pleasure. Honestly, I'd be uke any day if it meant this treatment.

… Maybe.

I wriggled my hands free of his grasp almost regretfully and brought one to the side of his face to make him look at me. I winked, "My turn," and pushed him onto his back, swinging a leg across to straddle his hips and descending upon him in an instant. I felt his hands working at my shirt and I let him take it off for me, immediately bringing my mouth back to his once it was gone. As we kissed long and hard our bare chests pressed together, radiating heat. I let my hands do their own wandering while his did the same, both of us searching for a sensitive – found it.

Right in between his last two ribs on his right side.

I pulled back and smirked as his breath hitched, running my nails lightly across the area. He twitched involuntarily and stopped breathing altogether, biting his lip hard.

"Ticklish?"

"I – ah! Yeah…"

I ceased the action of flicking my nails lightly across his skin, and he turned to glare at me.

"I didn't say stop."

I gave a tiny laugh and continued.

"It feels weird, but – but in a good way... nh"

I leant closer in to whisper in his ear after giving it a light nip.

"You know what else feels good?"

He laughed, breath catching halfway through. "Do I ever."

I breathed on his ear as I walked my fingers slowly down his chest. His shiver wasn't lost on me, no sir. I kissed at his neck lightly as I pulled down the waistband of his pants, not surprised in the slightest to feel him as incredibly turned on as me.

He hissed as I touched him and buried one hand in my hair as the other grabbed me by the back of the neck and pushed me in for a fierce kiss. All the while we both moved together, the noises he was making almost being enough to take me exactly where I was taking him.

I don't think I'd ever heard anything sound so positively sexy in my life.

But then the hand in my hair disappeared, only to reappear in an instant, probing at the elastic of my pants and pulling it down almost hungrily.

I shifted my hips and straightened out my legs a little to make it easier for him, and had to break the kiss when we came into contact, unable to stop a gasp and a slight shudder. So _this _was Naruto's real talent.

It didn't take long for either of us, being as turned on and worn out as we were already. Each stroke took us closer and closer, our moans more frantic as both of us moved faster, eager for release.

And when it came, my _God_ it'd never felt so good.

We both cried out together and I collapsed onto him with a dopey smile, breath heaving. He wasn't much better as he pulled me up and kissed me lightly. I could feel his heart beating hard through his chest, and laid my hand above it to feel it properly.

I frowned and took in enough breath to say, "Dobe… you're not gonna die of a heart attack, are you?"

He laughed weakly. "No… Actually, maybe… Shit."

I smiled down at him and he chuckled again, reaching up to touch my cheek lightly with a clean hand. He brushed his fingers across the bruise that I knew was making its ugly presence known before moving to the other one. I watched his expressions intently as it changed from intrigued to apologetic to plain exhausted.

He dropped his hand with a sigh, getting his breath back bit by bit.

"I'm not gonna say sorry, cos we both know we meant it."

I shrugged. "Wasn't expecting you to."

"Good, now can I sleep for a year?"

I smiled and shook my head. "Remember that thing called hygiene, dobe?"

"Ugh."

"That's right."

* * *

Ooo, 'breath back bit by bit'… that was unintentional. Hah.

That's probs the closest you're gonna get, guys. Sooo… How'd I do? First mild lemon/limeish thing I've done, remember. Phwoar. I'm kinda proud of myself.

Blah, I've broken two of my policies so far in these stories. –sigh- aah well, I've always been one to give into reviewer pressure. On the lemon case, at least.

I'm sorry, but I seem to be falling apart with this story. -sigh-


	8. Pervert In Training

Plot plot plot plot, plot plot plot plot –trumpet fanfare- Yes, I know! What?

I try my utmost to reply to reviews, but getting onto the internet for long enough to reply to them all is really difficult. I do read them and reply whenever I can, though, and they're _always_ appreciated!

Updates, well, the next two at least, will be on Fridays now. My timetables have been stuffed around due to second semester, so after that it'll be Tuesdays. I'll let you know when it changes, though. Sorry!

And I remembered what I forgot to say last chapter! A couple of people were saying Matsuri was an OC, but no my friends, she most certainly is not. If you haven't seen up to that part in Shippuden then I shall say nothing further on the matter. Tee hee.

However, all the other lovely people who work at Sasuke's café are, though they're hardly in it at all.

Now that that's all cleared up, enjoy!

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

8. PERVERT IN TRAINING

"Sasuke… I feel – I feel odd… I can't seem… remember… only two weeks – go and I – I've completely forgotten… The last one, too..."

I dropped the plate I was washing into the sink and tried not to let my sudden worry show, merely turning to him with a shrug. "So? Probably just stress." Yes, I made sense of his disjointed speech.

He shook his head slowly, making tiny circular motions with the towel on the saucepan in exactly the same spot. If that was meant to be an effective drying technique, then he was sorely mistaken.

"No, I mean… I feel empty. Fuzzy, almost – I don't know how to describe it."

I didn't answer him for a moment, running through an incredibly short list of possibilities that really only had one outcome – the medication. I cursed under my breath and all but threw the plate onto the sink, adding to the enormous pile that was awaiting Itachi's terrible drying skills.

I was hoping the medication was dulling his mind, but if it was affecting him so much that he couldn't remember lines that he'd been learning for the last six months then that was probably a little extreme.

And were they even working? He'd been having more mood swings lately, to the point of changing five times in the one day – which definitely couldn't be good for him.

I grabbed the next plate a little too carelessly and watched as it fell to the ground, almost in slow motion. But all I could think of as it went down was whether or not this would affect Itachi, whether he would go into another rage or stay the same, maybe even go into his intense brotherly mode and stress about me for the six hours.

But when it crashed to the ground and shattered into a million pieces, Itachi merely looked down at it, back up to me, and shrugged.

"You should probably clean that up. I don't want either of us to stand on it sometime during the night and hack up our feet or something."

I nodded dully, my face fixed into a frown, and walked to the pantry to remove the dustpan. I heard Kisame come back into the kitchen after his trip to the bathroom, and quickly told him to watch out for the spot just in front of the sink.

"What'd you break?" he asked.

"A plate. He slipped," Itachi explained for me.

I stood up after rooting around in the pantry, and turned back around to find that Itachi had handed the tea towel to a bewildered Kisame and was staring down at his hands with an intense look of concentration on his face, tongue sticking out a little at the corner of his mouth.

I'd heard people say I got that from him.

I watched him worriedly as he wandered over to the pad by the phone, picking up a pen and scrawling something down slowly. He looked up at Kisame after a moment and said, "What's the square root of four hundred and eighty-four?"

He raised an eyebrow and shot me a confused look before saying, "Twenty-two…"

He let out a frustrated huff and blew his fringe out of his eyes, writing something else down furiously before glaring at the page and up to me this time. "If the two short sides of a triangle are twenty-one and seventeen, what's the hypotenuse?"

I did a quick calculation in my head before saying, "Twenty-seven. Why?"

He shook his head and asked us each three more problems before throwing the pen on the bench and giving a tiny growl, clenching the pad in his fist.

Kisame stepped forwards and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Itachi…? What's up?"

He was completely ignored as my brother looked across at me, scowling. "Why can't I do any of the problems fast enough?"

I shrugged, knowing exactly what was happening but trying my best to look confused. "I don't know. It's probably all stress because it's the last show or something."

"But I –"

"Shut up, Kisame," I hissed.

"But –"

"You're not helping."

He narrowed his eyes at me before picking up a tray from the sink and beginning to dry it, finally getting the hint and staying quiet. Thick as a brick, that kid.

"Bro?"

I looked back to Itachi before bending down and starting the dull process of sweeping every single individual fragment of plate from the floor. "What?" Good old question-avoiding tactics.

"Tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Why I can't do the problems or remember my lines."

"Why would I know?"

"I can tell you do."

I scoffed. "You're just overreacting. Get a good sleep and you'll be fine."

He put a hand on my arm. "No, I'm being serious. I feel all… slow, like I have something missing in my head." Several screws, perhaps? "Is it the medication you've been making me take?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do."

I stood up suddenly and threw the contents of the dustpan into the bin, turning to him angrily. "I don't know, all right? You're just stressed, okay, stressed. So stop bothering me and go get some sleep."

He put his hands on his hips and looked at me defiantly.

I scowled further, but Kisame saved me from letting my frustration get the better of me by telling Itachi quietly that it was getting late anyway and they had rehearsal tomorrow, so he would finish cleaning up so that my brother could go to bed now.

It was very rare that I was actually pleased Kisame was around.

So Itachi slowly walked out of the kitchen, whispering something about me trying to kill him on the way out, and Kisame rounded on me looking positively furious. I thought as much.

"What the _hell_ are you giving him?"

I shrugged, throwing the dustpan into the pantry and shutting the door probably a little harder than necessary. "New meds."

He took a few menacing steps towards me.

Cue Jaws music.

"Without telling me?"

"Yeah."

A vein started twitching in his right temple and I tried not to think about how amusing it would be to see him angry. Maybe his face would get a tinge of pink to it and he'd be purple.

"Why?"

I shrugged again and neatly stepped around him to grab a tea towel, only to be stopped halfway through the motion. I raised an eyebrow at the hand gripping my upper arm and sighed, yanking it out of his grip and turning my back on him.

I headed out into the lounge room, expecting him to follow, and settled down on an armchair while he occupied the couch. As he got comfortable I struggled with myself on how I would tell him what was going on, and decided on jumping straight in head-first. I tended to take the Naruto option more and more these days.

We stared at each other for a moment before I took a breath and explained.

"I changed Itachi's meds from placebos to actual medication because the constant mood-swings probably weren't good for him and they definitely weren't good for me. These ones will slow his mind down so that he doesn't snap so often."

"Which is why he can't do the math problems fast or remember his lines."

I nodded. "I have to see Dr Chiyo next week to tell her how they're going, but it's not going to be me who decides whether he stays on them or not."

Kisame blanked at me and I elaborated for him.

"You know that scholarship letter you saw on the bench when you came in?"

He nodded slowly, still not getting it.

"That was from Wellington College, the school in New Zealand that I visited when I was there on the holidays. I did a test, got in, and now I'm leaving for two years."

He was taking this all surprisingly well… Although maybe incredibly pale blue wasn't a good thing… Less blood in the face was always a bad sign.

"I know Itachi can't stay here on his own, but I was originally thinking of having him stay here and forcing our p-uh…"

Kisame gestured for me to go on as he said quietly, "I already know."

I blinked in total surprise. He did? How the hell did he find that out? Itachi obviously had no idea so it couldn't have been him… I shook my head. I could find that out some other time – right now I had to tell him he was getting dumped with my brother for however long he could bear it, 'cos I sure as hell wasn't coming back.

"Well in that case, I didn't do a test or anything – my father bought my way into the school. I'm being forced to go there for the next two years if I want to run Sharingan, so I am. Our parents obviously don't give a shit about Itachi, but I was thinking of forcing them to send money to him each month if he was here on his own. I decided the other day that there was no way he could stay alone and stay alive more than a month, so either you call in on him every day or one of you moves in with the other. For good."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to think of anything to say, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the silence stretched on. He finally broke it, his voice barely audible.

"When… when are you leaving?"

"October fourteenth."

"That's in… two months. The day after the very last performance."

I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah…?"

Kisame shrugged and leant back against the cushions with a sigh, fingers pulling at the hem of his black shirt nervously. He didn't say anything, taking the time to let it all sink in. When he opened his mouth I was certain it would be to say that he would do it, but was surprised when he asked, "Are you going to see the show?"

I was caught a little off-guard, and faltered a moment before answering. "I – I don't know… probably not."

He said nothing again, rolling his eyes back to stare at the roof.

"How long has this 'last performance' been going on, anyway? I keep hearing about it from Itachi but nothing's happened in the last however many months."

He shrugged. "Three weeks of rehearsals, one of intense publicity, a final rehearsal then a month of performing. Theatre productions take a long time to plan, you know. Four to six months minimum. I don't think it'll be the last one, though."

"Why?"

He sighed and lifted his hands up in front of his face, staring at them for a moment before dropping them back to his sides heavily and saying, "There's something going on in the company that Orochimaru doesn't know about. Everyone's started getting second jobs part-time to keep the money coming in, but I'm not going to bother. I heard Pein and Tobi talking, and I think… I don't know what I think, but something's going on."

I nodded slowly, not really understanding anything he was saying but recognising that his talk of the theatre was to distract him from the real issue at hand, and I wasn't surprised when he stood up suddenly and said quietly, "I'm going to bed… Uh – yeah… You should come to the show. G'night."

Was it really that hard to just say, "Yes, I'll look after your brother"?

I frowned.

Apparently.

* * *

Haku was staring me down, looking for all the world like he'd just eaten something particularly disgusting and wanted to throw up.

But I was too awesome to throw up, so he had to endure me smirking at him knowingly the entire lesson. While I admit that I hadn't exactly won that fight outright, I was still a match for him and I didn't think he was too happy with that. He was probably some spoilt rich kid whose parents always told him how amazing he was and that no one could ever be better than him because he was just so_ wonderful_!

Get me a bucket, please.

Gaara came down to sit next to me and jerked his head towards the pretty boy.

"Still gloating?"

I scoffed. "Of course."

He laughed and Neji came up behind him, resting his elbows on his shoulders and leaning in with a smirk. "He so wants you."

I simply raised an eyebrow and said in my oh-so-cocky way, "Well I can't blame him, really."

Tenten smacked me on the back of the head as she walked past.

I so did not deserve that.

I rubbed the back of my head with a scowl while my other hand came to touch the large dark bruise tentatively, Tenten's smack reminding me it was there. Although I didn't know how I could forget, really, big as it was. Naruto sure had done a good job.

Gaara noticed me wincing and smirked. "Honestly, beating up your boyfriend isn't a great start to the relationship."

Neji laughed and shook his head, still draping himself over Gaara. "I don't think it was our Sasuke who did the beating."

I snorted. "Oh I so did, don't you worry about that. You'll see later."

The door opened with a loud squeak, interrupting us, and we all turned to see Sakura walk timidly into the class, a memo in her hand filled with Tsunade's lazy script. We all nodded in greeting and she wandered over to us with that I'm-concentrating-on-something-else-entirely walk.

I smiled to myself and shook my head, continuing my efforts to cut out the perfect stencil for my ring.

"Hey guys, where's the so-called sex god that I'm yet to see? I've gotta get him for Tsunade."

Ino slung an arm over her shoulder with a wide grin. "'Sex god' is an understatement, my child."

"Try 'total prick who deserves to have his spleen removed in tiny pieces, one by one, and then shot in the kneecaps before being drowned in a toilet just for good measure', then you might be more accurate."

A tiny silence followed the redhead's quiet speech.

Hinata laid a hand on his arm almost nervously while Sakura looked like she was having a hard time biting back a laugh. Neji and I were doing the same, but looking much more dignified, of course.

Gaara shook his head earnestly. "No, I mean it. If that bastard ever gets murdered you can all assume it was me. I'm going to do it one day. I'm just waiting for him to test me far enough before I –"

"Lovely!" A familiar voice interrupted Gaara's with a sickening amount of false cheer, making it all the more threatening. "How about a detention, Tattoo Face? Sound like…"

I'm sure he said other stuff, but I tuned out pretty much from the beginning.

The very second he stepped out of the back room, Sakura gave a tiny shriek and piss-bolted out the door, slamming it shut behind her quite forcefully. We all stared after her blankly, the entire room quiet.

At the sound of the bang, Sasori looked up and frowned.

"Who was that?"

"That was Haruno Sakura, sensei!" Ino chimed, all sweet and innocent and oh how I wanted to wring her neck.

Sasori's frown deepened and he tilted his head to the side slightly, thinking something over. He mouthed Sakura's name slowly as the volume of talk reached its usual heights, before shaking his head and rolling the piece of metal he had between his hands.

"What did she want?"

"She said something about Tsunade," Tenten supplied.

Sasori shrugged and turned his back on us, wandering into the back room to do whatever he did back there. As soon as he was gone I dropped my things and dashed out the door to find Sakura on sitting on the ground, white as a sheet and head in her hands.

I knelt down next to her and put a hand on her knee. She looked up at me with terrified eyes and took short gasping breaths.

I raised an eyebrow in question and she took a moment before saying quietly, "You know how a couple of years ago when Tsunade got me that job at the hospital and I was helping Dr Chiyo out?"

I nodded slowly as the door opened again and Hinata, Tenten and Ino stuck their heads out. I waved my hand at them, telling them to go away, Hinata and Tenten getting the point but Ino staying behind with a confused look.

'Is she okay?' she mouthed.

I narrowed my eyes and jerked my head towards the class as I mouthed back 'fine. Piss off.'

She gave me a highly affronted look but did as I said, ducking back into the classroom and looking through the window for a moment before disappearing from view.

"Sorry, keep going."

Sakura took a few more deep breaths and stared at her hands, clenching and unclenching them as she spoke.

"And you know how I told you that Kankuro carried Gaara in one night, knocked unconscious and both looking a total mess?"

I nodded again. Where was she going with this?

"And there was a guy there that night, well, two guys, that came in while Gaara was being treated, and they were smashed off their faces and ranting about how they'd beat up some kid in the street after dealing with his brother, all proud of themselves. I told you that, didn't I?"

"Yes, Sakura, what -?"

"I told you that one came into the room where I was bandaging Gaara's arm, and he was saying all kinds of gross shit to me. Then the other one just pissed off after they had some argument about beauty or art or something and upset the entire reception area. I told you how the one who was talking to me pulled out a knife and tried to kill me, had me up against the wall and everything. And then Chiyo came in and stopped him but the police got involved because someone in the waiting room reported it and it was this huge mess. Chiyo had to give evidence against her own grandson, poor thing, but he'd tried to kill her as well."

I put one hand on her shoulder and tucked my other under her jaw, getting her to look up at me. I raised my eyebrows one we made eye contact and said slowly, "Sakura, what the hell are you getting at? What does that have to do wi – oh. Oh… _shit_."

She nodded, then all of a sudden she'd thrown her arms around my shoulders and was crying for all she was worth. If this was anyone else I would have pushed them off and told them to get a backbone, but this was Sakura.

It was like Naruto had said – she was one of my weak spots.

I hugged her back awkwardly, surprisingly not accustomed to this yet despite my relationship with Naruto, and when she composed herself I ruffled her hair with a tiny smile.

"You all right? Want to go for a walk or something?"

She gave me a strange look before saying, "You're so… nice."

I scoffed. "Thanks, you too."

She smiled and shrugged, wiping her eyes roughly. "Sorry, I just… yeah."

A sudden thought occurred to me as she pulled a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose, and I looked at her thoughtfully.

"Hey… Why doesn't Gaara recognise him, then? You told me he was walking with Kankuro when they got jumped…"

Sakura shrugged and tucked the tissue back into her pocket, crossing her legs and resting her chin on her palm. "Apparently the blonde one dealt with Gaara while Sasori, the arsehole, beat the shit through Kankuro, after both of them had gone through everyone else. Gaara either doesn't remember because of concussion or he subconsciously erased it from his memory. People do that sometimes when they don't want to deal with something. Must have been one hell of an ordeal for them. But I dunno, maybe Gaara remembers the blonde one only." She paused a moment before giving a tiny laugh. "He was my first patient, you know? Kankuro, that is. You think he'd be nicer to me."

"He's a guy; he probably has no idea what emotions are, let alone how to say thanks."

She laughed with a little more effort and shook her head. "Ah, the male mind. Such a mystery."

"I know," I sighed.

She raised her eyebrow at me as she wiped under her eyes again, and said mockingly, "Gay, much?"

I was about to hit her lightly in the arm before I stopped myself, realised that she'd probably hit me back ten times as hard. Crazy girl. "Shut up."

We sat in silence for a moment, mulling things over in our minds before Sakura said quietly, "Should I tell Tsunade?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Won't she just tell me to get over it?"

"Probably."

"But she should know anyway…"

I nodded again.

Sakura sighed heavily and picked at her shoes with her fingernails, looking like she was about to cry again. I squeezed her shoulder lightly and she smiled.

"Ugh, I'm such a sook."

"Its fine, you have every right to be. The guy who tried to kill you is sort of roaming the school grounds, you know. I think that gives you grounds to act like a two year old."

"Thanks, I appreciate that."

"No worries." I paused a second. "How come you're the only person who's talked about this? Gaara's never said anything."

"Probably doesn't really want to. It's not something to be proud of, getting beaten up – you know that."

I nodded solemnly. This was probably the only school were getting into a fight unnecessarily got you frowned upon something major. If it's with good reason and you happen to win then hooray for you, but if you're the one getting beaten then man, does everyone hate you.

"Huh… I guess."

She shrugged and stood up, casting a wary eye back to my classroom before offering her hand down to me and pulling me up.

"Says you with an almost black eye and a giant bruise on your cheek."

I scowled and straightened out my clothes as I stood. "You can thank Naruto for that."

She raised her eyebrows. "I won't ask."

"Good."

Another moment of silence.

"You will talk to Tsunade, right?"

She nodded.

"And if she doesn't listen then go to Shizune."

She nodded again.

"And if he ever comes near you again tell me and I'll beat the shit out of him, teacher or not."

She snorted. "Nice."

"I thought so."

* * *

"Uchiha, Uzumaki, you'll be working together today."

Of course we will.

"Try not to jump each other."

Of course we – _what_?

Naruto and I both exchanged bewildered looks, his more shocked than mine of course, but our surprise was still plain for everyone to see. Sakura snickered from beside me, fully healed after this morning's ordeal, and Choji had to try really hard to stifle his laughter. Shikamaru just yawned and kept his head flat on the table, the lazy shit.

We received a few confused looks from the rest of the class, but I got a display of Naruto's acting skills as he growled under his breath, "Jump me and I'll kill you." Of course, both of having interesting colouring on our faces added more impact.

I gave him just as dirty a look but said so quietly that only he could hear, "More like what you do to me is going to kill me."

He blanked at me for a moment before pissing himself laughing. I managed a smile as he howled himself stupid in front of me.

"Can you at least laugh quietly, Uzumaki?" Iruka asked in exasperation from the front of the class.

I kicked my air-headed boyfriend under the table, whispering out of the corner of my mouth, "Dobe, shut up."

He clamped a hand to his mouth, but it couldn't hide the snort. "Sorry, it's just – that was… _so sleazy_."

I smirked and shrugged. "I know, I know."

He shook his head at me like he was very disappointed while the class around us chose their partners for the lesson. I looked over at Sakura, who'd been dumped with some tiny blonde girl who was squeaking incessantly to her about something that obviously made Sakura want to kill her, and I couldn't help but smile a little at her misfortune.

What? It was amusing.

Naruto stood up next to me and clipped me on the back of the head. "Come on, pervert, get going."

I sighed and followed him up to the back of the room where a whole bunch of wonderful skin-destroying chemicals awaited us with some things and some other things and oh no… What happened to my ability to absorb information?

I scowled at Naruto and he gave me a confused look.

"What?"

I didn't bother answering, and looked up at the door as in creaked open – oh God, not _him_.

Orochimaru stuck his head through the doorway with one of those disgusting smiles of his, and I saw Iruka shift his eyes in his direction before looking back down to his work and ignoring him entirely.

Huh… interesting.

Orochimaru gave a pathetic cough in an attempt to be polite, but Iruka kept his eyes fixed on the chart in front of him.

A couple of knocks and several obviously loud coughs later, Iruka finally sighed, rolled his eyes, threw the chart on the table with a loud _smack_ and scowled his way over to the waiting drama teacher. They conversed in silence for a remarkably short time before Iruka beckoned to me and Naruto and jerked his head towards Orochimaru.

"He wants to see you both. You've got five seconds."

Well this was a side of the pineapple-sensei that I hadn't seen before.

Naruto and I nodded, dropping the bottle of whatever it was we were each holding and walking over to Orochimaru, who dragged us out the door quickly and shut it behind him with a forceful _snap_.

"Now, boys, I know we did a read through yesterday morning, which you did very well, but I changed a couple of things in the script and gave it a bit more oomph, if you like." He handed us each a bunch of stapled sheets and we raised our eyebrows at each other. "So I want you to go over them tonight, together or separate I don't really mind, and then we'll do a run through tomorrow, okay?"

We both nodded slowly, matching frowns on our faces.

He winked at us each in turn (I could have sworn Naruto's face went a faint shade of green) before turning his back on us with a jaunty wave over his shoulder and a, "Practice hard, boys! This has to be _perfect_!"

Once he was around the corner, Naruto opened his mouth to no doubt say something quite rude about the long-haired pervert, but Iruka opened the door just at that moment and told us to get back inside right now, drama be damned because he was trying to run a class, Orochimaru.

Then he must've realised that the drama teacher was already gone, because his expression softened and he sighed at us. "Sorry, guys, didn't mean to be so rude."

Naruto grinned. "Don't worry, Iruka-sensei, we hate him too!"

"N- no, I don't _hate_ –"

I snorted. "Yes you do."

He made a few more noises of disapproval before simply putting on his best scowl and ushering us back inside.

And that was when I had my epiphany. Gotta love those moments.

I backtracked a couple of steps, grabbing onto Iruka's sleeve as I went and pulling him back with me.

"Uchiha, what are you -?"

"I need to ask you something, sensei."

He frowned at me and jerked his arm out of my grip, raising his eyebrows in question.

I shook my head. "Can I talk to you outside?"

"Uchiha, what's this about?"

"Please, outside."

He huffed at me but nodded anyway, leading the way out and leaning against the now closed door. "What's the matter?"

I inspected my fingernails for a moment before saying quietly, "Orochimaru."

That got his attention. His expression immediately changed from confusion to annoyance to intrigue, and he said carefully, "… What about him?"

I shrugged and read a poster next to Iruka's head while I tried to work out how to say it without sounding… immature, I guess.

"I can see that you don't like him…"

He raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

"And I'm assuming you've heard something about his history, which is why you don't like him."

He nodded slowly.

I took a deep breath, feeling like the worst boyfriend in the world but knowing it had to be done. The good cancels out the bad.

"Do you know about Naruto?"

I looked him straight in the eyes as I said it, and he stiffened immediately. He unfolded his arms and let them hang straight by his sides, fists clenching and unclenching.

"We'll talk about this another time. I won't be here tomorrow so come and see me Thursday after school."

I shook my head. "Extra-curricular night."

He opened the door and stepped through as he said, "Lunch time, then. In my office."

* * *

"Sasuke!"

I whipped around at the sound of Naruto's voice, and was surprised to see him looking positively livid. That was unusual.

"What's up?" I asked once he'd caught up to me.

"Have you _read_ the freaking script? Have you seen what he wants us to _do_? This can't have been okayed by Tsunade, it really can't have. It's like… agh! On _stage_? In front of _him_? No way! I'm not doing it, I'm really not. I'll chuck the biggest freaking tanty known to humankind if it'll get me out of it. I'm dead serious, this is _not_ going to happen."

I nodded with narrowed eyes. "I know." Keep the anger to a minimum, that's it. Uchiha Sasuke, Master of Control.

Naruto cried out in despair and clenched his fists. "But how the _hell_ do we get out of i-hi-ho… Hang on a second…"

I swallowed nervously, recognising that as his thinking look and knowing something bad was to come out of this.

His expression changed to something vaguely proud and sly at the same time, and he put a hand on my arm to stop me walking. Leaning in close, he said quietly, "If we do this incredibly badly on purpose but make it look like we're trying, he'll either get so frustrated that he'll ditch it or he'll snap and smack us one. It's happened before and I don't think being in a classroom with students is going to stop him."

I raised an eyebrow. "And this is good… how, exactly?"

He grinned. "We'll have an entire class full of witnesses."

It clicked. I clenched my fists tightly. "And we want to get him sacked."

"Do we ever."

My arm moved so fast there was no way for him to have seen it, and in a split second I was holding him flat against the wall, my eyes flashing angrily.

"You don't seem to get the gravity of the situation, do you? Have you got _any_ idea what we have to do once we get in there? We have to pretend to be innocent kids who are pretending to be men who know what they're doing, but we have to make it look like we're actually nervous about this thing and are disgusted at kissing another guy. We have to pretend we're not in a relationship at the same time as pretending we are in one."

He gave me an adorable confused expression, but I was immune to it at the moment.

"And all in front of _him_," I continued. "You know more than I do just how much of a creep he is, yet all you can think about it how we're going to piss him off. It's going to take a shitload more than that to get him sacked and you know it. So don't take this lightly, okay? It's… for once, it's serious. This could go wrong in so many ways, it's best to just go with the flow for a while and see how we can change it. Just don't do anything stupid."

Naruto slowly raised his eyebrows, asking me if I was done.

I pursed my lips and dropped the arm holding him against the wall, and he stumbled a couple of steps forward, massaging his collar bone. I was reminded of our fight the other day, and immediately felt bad. I'd gotten him in the same spot again.

"Fine, teme, fine. I get it."

"Do you?"

He scowled and shoved his hands into his pockets, walking straight past me. "_Yes_."

I struggled with myself for a second before smacking my forehead and groaning in frustration, quickly running up behind him and putting my arm around his shoulder.

"I…" You can do it, Sasuke. "I'm sorry." You're getting a treat tonight, kiddo. Well done!

Naruto just shrugged, completely ignoring my accomplishment, and gave me a sad smile. "No, you're right."

"I know."

He laughed weakly and scuffed his shoe on the ground as we walked. "I can't keep brushing this off, can I?"

"Nope."

"I've gotta… I've gotta stop ignoring it."

I nodded along with him as he continued with his semi-epiphany.

"I _really_ have to quit letting him push me around. I'll show him what I can do with this stupid freaking play of his, and… and then… oh shit, I don't know."

I snorted and he gave me a pathetic glare, but his expression cracked into a smile before long. "Shut up. I had something good but it kind of just… went."

"Nice, dobe. Very profound."

"Hey! I tried, I tried."

I kissed him on the cheek. "And that's all that matters… Though it would have been more effective if you'd been able to say more than two sentences."

Yes, yes I think I may have deserved that punch in the stomach.

I rubbed the sore spot as Kiba suddenly came bounding up behind us, a stupid grin on his face as usual. I glared automatically before realising that there really was no need for me to do that anymore, and so it was with great self-discipline that I let my eyes go back to their normal size and kept my face politely blank.

I held the door open for both of them as we entered the art building and joined the rest of the class gathered outside the drama room.

Once again, my efforts went entirely unnoticed.

"Ready for your practice run, guys? Don't get too carried away, now."

And yes, Kiba deserved that punch too.

"Shut up, Dog Breath. Maybe I can talk Shino into joining the class and you two can take over. You'd like that wouldn't you, you horny shit."

Kiba grinned widely up at him, rubbing his stomach just like I was a moment ago. "Now, that seems like a fine idea, my friend. Why don't you do just that and you two can learn how it's done, ne?"

And he most certainly deserved both of those punches. The kid wouldn't be able to use either of his arms for at least an hour. Sucker.

"Ow! Jesus, guys! What –"

The door burst open, cutting him off, and Orochimaru stepped out with his usual flourish. He still wasn't dressing like a proper teacher.

"Welcome, class! I'm looking forward to seeing what you've all written for your short masterpieces! Come in, come in, mind the step, that's it. I trust we all had a good lunch, yes? Loudmouth, I said _no_ displays of affection in my class, which includes in my presence, so kindly disentangle your fingers from Bowlcut's and we can all get moving o-ho-hokay good girl. Wasn't so hard, was it?"

A few people muttered curses under their breath as we trudged into the class of doom, Naruto and myself most certainly included among them. Kiba made the mistake of saying something especially loud to Naruto and Orochimaru whipped his head around, gripping Kiba by the collar and yanking him back.

"Did I hear something, Fangs?"

"N-No!"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "No _what_?"

Kiba looked a little confused for a second before saying, "No… sensei?"

"Right, now don't talk again."

Kiba was let go, but what he said next made me smack myself in the forehead at his own stupidity. I heard Sakura and Neji do the same next to me.

"…Fucking creep."

"Get out! _Get out of my class!_"

Orochimaru pointed out the door forcefully, face going a tinge pink in his sudden anger, and all but kicked Kiba out. He certainly grabbed him by the collar again and threw him. A foot may have come into play at one point, but it was all rather fast. The door was slammed and the entire class went dead silent, not wanting to breathe too loudly in case we were given the same treatment.

Man, talk about psycho…

"Anyone _else_, want to be a smartarse?"

Well no, not really.

He cracked his neck in the silence. "Good." And then the façade was back and he was all smiles, welcoming arms and swishy movements. "So, we might as well get straight into it! I trust you've all combined ideas in the groups I gave you last lesson and decided on a final draft for your plays, yes?"

A collective nod went around the class. Well as if we were going to admit we hadn't when he'd just beaten a kid out of the room. Idiot.

"Good! Uchiha, Uzumaki, you stay here. Now what I want the rest of you to do is choose a nice quiet area, _away from distraction_, and work on them outside. I don't care if it's cold – nature will give you inspiration. I want you to assign roles, do read throughs, walkthroughs, prop ideas – anything. Get the feel of your performance flowing. But you _must_ have something to show me by the end of the class." He stared around the room slowly. "Got it?"

His answer was the sound of scurrying feet, paper being ripped out of folders, and Sakura's "Sai, get your arse over here and have some input for once!" over the top of Lee's "All right! Feel the power of youth coursing within you and become a team! Together we can –"

"Yes, that's nice Bowl Cut. Kindly shut up now."

Poor kid was getting shut down by teachers far too much lately.

Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets next to me and shuffled his feet awkwardly, waiting for the inevitable. As the class slowly emptied out and people went off in their separate groups, Orochimaru finally waltzed up to us with his leisurely pace, sporting a sick grin.

"Hello boys, how are we today?"

I'd be better if you stood at least ten feet away.

"Ready for a solid walkthrough of the new script?"

No, but I'm ready to smash you in the face.

"I'll take your silence as an affirmative, then!"

… Bastard.

I felt rather than saw Naruto's fists clenching and unclenching by his sides, and it took a truckload of self-restraint not to grab it in my own hand to calm him down.

Orochimaru clapped his hands and his lapdog came bounding over with three scripts in his hand, passing one to each of us before hurrying away to pull a number of things into the centre of the room, such as a desk, a couple of chairs, a stack of paper and various other strange things.

"I printed off extra copies for you both just in case you forgot to bring your own," Orochimaru was saying as he flipped through the pages. He looked back up to us and looked to be sizing each of us up. He furrowed his brows in some sort of deformed spawn of concern.

"Uzumaki? Are you feeling all right?"

He swallowed hard and nodded. I could tell he was struggling not to piss-bolt.

"Are you sure now? You look quite ill."

"I'm fine," he ground out between gritted teeth.

Oh yes, sure you are.

Orochimaru 'hmm'ed at him but shrugged, leaving him be and turning to me instead. "So, Uchiha, if you've read the script then you would know that you work in the finance department of this particular office complex, and Uzumaki is in the marketing area. You both work close together occasionally and have managed to keep your relationship under control, and your three-month anniversary is no different. Uchiha, you will be sitting at your desk with a computer in front of you…" he motioned for me to sit behind the desk that Kabuto had positioned just left of centre. "And then Uzumaki will come in, knocking politely," he beckoned Naruto forwards and indicated the imaginary door. "And now… take it away."

I settled down in the chair as Naruto baulked, unable to remember anything. He looked from me to Orochimaru and said, "What – now? Just… just go?"

The creep nodded and gave him a warning smile.

"Can I use my script?"

Orochimaru scowled and flicked his hair. "You mean you haven't memorised it?"

"W-Well no…"

"You've had two days, Uzumaki! Why didn't you come and ask me for help?"

Pfft, as if that was going to happen.

"Because I didn't know we had to remember the entire bloody thing!"

"Keep your language under control. We are still in a classroom."

Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes. I folded my fingers across my stomach and watched him carefully. He was probably under a hell of a lot of strain at the moment, and I don't think they've invented a word yet for how I felt right then.

So intensely worried for him that I felt like my stomach was going to eat itself, proud that he could stand up here in front of the man who'd been violating him for so many years, and angry as all hell that Orochimaru could get away with something like this. Did we have no say in _anything_ just because we were students?

Slowly, Naruto exhaled, opened his eyes, turned around and yanked the script off the chair he had dumped it onto when we got into the room. He scowled at Orochimaru as he came back to the centre of the room, and I smirked at the creep over in the corner, ready to scold Naruto but apparently too surprised to do anything.

That was my boyfriend, right there.

And then we started, running through the lines like clockwork and everything going so smoothly that even the freaky perfectionist nerd in the background couldn't voice a complaint as he tried to suck up to his 'master'.

Naruto and I conversed about office matters but made sure to give each other sidelong glances the whole time, making suggestive remarks that were open to interpretation, and adlibbing a lot of it.

If that didn't impress the snake, then the world was lost.

But then… then we stopped the pleasantries and the heart warming light conversation, and we got into the heavier part of the script, the part where Orochimaru got his kicks.

I could help feeling sick to my stomach as Naruto stood up and had a joking look on his face as he said that all I ever talked about were numbers, I probably saw them in my sleep, and did I know what day it was today?

I told him it was Monday the tenth of November.

He sat on the desk in front of me and said I was right.

I asked him why.

Naruto took one glance down at the script, threw it to the side, told me that three months ago I'd asked him on a date, and promptly kissed the living daylights out of me a second after whispering, "Doing good, teme."

From what I remember, the script had said a light kiss on the lips, Naruto's left hand on my right shoulder, and then a shared secretive smile before we both went our separate ways.

It most certainly did not say:

_Kazu smirks at Nao before pushing their lips together and dropping down off the desk to sit on Nao's lap. Nao's hands rest on Kazu's hips and he unwillingly makes moaning noises as the kiss becomes passionate and tongues fight each other for the dominant position. Kazu's hands move to the back of his lover's neck and into his hair, but the teacher interrupts and they are forced to part reluctantly._

No, I can assure you that it did not say any of the above or anything like it. That, however, is exactly what happened, and I cursed Naruto and his absurd sense of logic that seemed to make sense only to him. Honestly, what was he hoping to achieve with that?

I was surprised to find myself feeling a little angry.

I glared up at him and pushed him off me as Orochimaru said quietly, "Well, boys, that was… that was better than I expected."

Yeah, I'll bet it was.

"You both did very well, but try to follow the script next time."

Yes, Naruto. Remember the script?

"By all means do what you just did, but we do have an audience to think about."

… I'd prefer it if he stopped staring at me like that. No, you cannot eat me. Only Naruto can do that, as you just saw.

Naruto shrugged and stepped away from the desk I'd pushed him back onto after giving me a what-the-hell's-wrong-with-you look, and picked up the script he'd dropped to the floor.

Snake Man put a hand on his chin and looked like he was taking me apart piece by piece and sizing me up. I shifted uncomfortably as Naruto flicked through the script beside me, completely oblivious.

Orochimaru's expression didn't change once while he seemed to be undressing me with his eyes, and it was a struggle not to let either my discomfort or my anger show. The room went dead silent as the creep continued staring me down, face completely blank the entire time, and it was only after a couple of minutes that Naruto finally looked up.

His eyes flicked back and forth between me and our 'teacher', and he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh… Oro – I mean, sensei?"

I folded my arms and quirked an eyebrow at Orochimaru, not daring to break eye contact. I felt like I was in a staring competition now, he'd been gawking at me for that long.

Naruto waved his hand in between us.

Orochimaru stayed blank.

I clenched my jaw.

Naruto huffed and jumped in, blocking our view entirely.

"Uzumaki, what are you doing?"

He whipped around to face his tormentor. "What are _you_ doing?"

"Thinking."

"About wh- you know, I don't want to know." He scowled a moment before turning and putting his face right up to mine, making me finally break contact. "C'mon, Sasuke, bell's about to go."

As if to back up his words, the door opened and Sakura walked in with Sai, Neji and Kiba. The latter took one step into the room before seemingly remembering his previous treatment, and walking straight back out again. It would've been comical if I didn't have a serious sense of unease making itself comfortable in the pit of my stomach.

I glanced nervously at Naruto, who was watching me with a suspicious expression. He probably knew exactly what Orochimaru was thinking, and I had a feeling I knew too. I just hoped to God I was wrong.

I sat in silence on the chair I'd been given and chewed on a thumbnail before telling myself off and tucking my hands into my pockets. Orochimaru had turned to talk to Kabuto, but I could see that he was still glancing at me out of the corner of his eye as he spoke.

The uneasiness grew stronger. By about a thousand. I got very uncomfortable.

I glanced at the clock and counted down until the bell went. It went over by ten seconds. I scowled and fought the urge to bite my nails again. I could hear Naruto talking loudly with Tenten and Lee as they came back into the room with most of the other students, but didn't pay any attention to what they were bragging about.

Sakura came to sit with me but didn't say anything. There wasn't really anything to say. And then the bell went and everyone gathered their things, fighting to get out the door at once.

I was up the second the bell went, trying my best to get out before everyone else and gripping Naruto's hand as I strode past him, yanking him through the door after me.

"Uchiha, come back. I need to discuss something with you."

My steps faltered but Naruto tugged on my hand. "Just keep walking," he said out of the corner of his mouth. "Pretend you didn't hear him and keep going. Get out the door and piss-bolt."

I nodded and kept right on walking, but had only gone two or three steps before my name was barked out warningly.

"Uchiha! I said come back!"

I stopped and worried my lip between my teeth. Naruto turned back to me as the other students jostled past us. "I'm not letting you go back in there."

"I know, but I have to."

"Why?"

"I'll get a detention."

"So?"

"I can't have a bad record."

"You've had detentions before."

"They're only lunchtimes, they don't count. He'll give me a Saturday or something."

"You do realise that I don't give a shit about your record. You're not going back in that room."

"Uchiha, you have been told." Kabuto stood outside the door with his hands on his hips. "Get back in here _now_."

I let go of Naruto's hand as he said, "I'll sit right outside that door and I'm not moving till you come out," and I walked back into the room defiantly, dropping my bag onto the floor and slamming the door behind me, right in Naruto's face.

I turned to glare at the snake, folding my arms.

"What?"

* * *

My chapters seem to be getting longer and longer. Sorry! I just had to get all that happening in this chapter otherwise it would take far too long and would stuff up the order later.

And yes, the Sakura thing has a lot of importance later on. It _should_ all fit together nicely. Oh crap. Now I'm paranoid.

Reviews are always loved and appreciated! And always read and considered, even if I don't reply.


	9. Spleen Removals Can Be Arranged

Oh wow, we're at 99 pages with this one. Phwoar, I take back _anything_ I said about this being shorter than STTGR. Aeigh, if anything it'll be a lot longer. Um… sorry?

And don't yell at me for this chapter! Feel free to skip down until the divider if you feel so inclined. It contains some stuff that some people might not be so comfortable reading. You have been warned, I like my spleen _inside_ my body. So does Sasuke. Orochimaru doesn't need his.

Thank you :)

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

9. SPLEEN REMOVALS CAN BE ARRANGED

He smirked at me and glided forwards, reaching past me to lock the door. There was a loud curse from the other side as Naruto said loudly, "Touch him and you die."

Orochimaru ignored the warning and gestured to the seat that was still in the centre of the room. I lifted my eyebrow at him and pushed past, sitting down heavily and kicking my feet up on the desk as I crossed my arms.

"Sasuke, I must say, that was quite a performance you two put on there."

He came to sit on the desk in front of me and failed an attempt at a smile. I felt like throwing up.

"We've had a lot of practice."

He raised his eyebrows. "Have you now?"

"Yes."

He gave a tiny laugh and flicked his hair. "Well, I knew Naruto had…"

I cracked my knuckles one by one and clenched my teeth. I was Uchiha Sasuke, the Master of Control. I did not lose it and punch teachers. Pathetic, perverse, screwed-up excuses for human beings though they were, I did not punch them.

No, I didn't.

I won't.

I won't stoop that low.

"But let's not get into that." He 'laughed' again. "What I really wanted to talk to you about was your natural talent for acting. You probably know why I'm teaching in this hell hole, don't you? I'm sure your brother's told you all about it. Am I right?"

I gave a tiny nod, staring him straight in the eye and daring him to come any closer.

"Well I think that what my company needs is a… fresh face, if you like."

Oh no. I can see where this is going.

"And I think that _you_, Sasuke, would be the perfect candidate."

I couldn't help it. I snorted. "Yeah, right. Thanks for the offer, but I'd rather have my spleen forcibly removed at the same time as being shot in the kneecaps while I'm fully conscious than spend any more time with you than necessary."

He grinned nastily. "I'm sure we can arrange something."

I stopped halfway through the motion of standing up. Was he serious?

He pushed off the desk and leaned down over me. And no, I wasn't scared. There are and only ever will be five people in my life who can scare me, and he sure as hell wasn't one of them. He did, however, have very bad breath.

"You're perfect for the new idea I have, Sasuke. A young boy, pale skin and midnight black hair, vampire, an outcast from his own kind. That's you, Sasuke. No one else can play that part. I can see by the way you were acting before that you would be the perfect cool and calculating boy that will be the star of my show. You will be the new face of Akatsuki Performing Arts Company. No need to be associated with your brother anymore – you're far better than him. I won't need him."

I rolled my eyes. "Great, that's just what I want – to destabilise Itachi even further. The theatre is the constant for him. Me, Kisame and that theatre are what keep him grounded. Uproot one and you've got a huge mess on your hands."

Orochimaru leaned in even closer and was even daring enough to reach out and touch my cheek lightly with his index finger, trailing along the still-visible bruise on my cheekbone from the fight on the weekend.

Oh now I _really_ wanted to throw up.

I kept it down though, and didn't so much as blink as he smirked sickeningly. My eyes remained locked with his the entire time. The staring competition was still on.

"Do you really care for your brother that much? Are you willing to throw away such an opportunity because of him?" He let the questions hang in the air while I gritted my teeth and tried my utmost not to punch him in the face. "Because to me… well, I think I see things a bit differently to you."

"Oh yeah? And how's that?"

Another smirk and he came even closer, whispering in my ear now.

"I think you hate him. Deep down you can't stand him. You want him out of your life for good so you don't have to keep being reminded of the failure you are." I died a little on the inside. "Your brother is amazing, there's no doubt about it. He remembers absolutely everything to the finest detail, and can work up an audience like no other. His looks have the girls swarming over him, but he has exactly what we need to play villains as well. He is everything a writer and director could ask for."

The little bit inside grew even bigger and I shrank down in my chair, knuckles going white as my fists clenched impossibly tight.

"I can see it in your eyes that you agree with me. I know full well that you've always been in your brother's shadow, and I'm giving you the opportunity to show him up."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, clearing my mind the best I could. He wasn't getting to me. He wasn't. He didn't know how to make me tick like Naruto did. He wasn't thinking only of what was best for me like Naruto would. He didn't have the influence over me that Naruto had. Nothing he said mattered.

There was no reason for me to be listening to him.

"What would you know?"

He chuckled lightly to himself. "I have intelligent people working for me. It's no issue." He pulled back to look at me intently. "I want you to perform for me, Sasuke. I want you to become the star of my shows and bring the theatre back to life."

I opened my eyes and stared straight up at him with a horribly fake smile, coming to a decision that there was probably only two ways of dealing with this, and the smartarse way seemed like a better option than beating up a teacher.

"Wow, two amazing offers in as many months. Now, which one will I choose…?" I tilted my head to the side and pretended to think. "On one hand I have the opportunity to run an entire company as I so please, practically have control over the military and underground assassination organisations and earn a shitload of money." I tilted my head to the other side. "And on the other, I can prance around on a stage pretending to be someone I'm definitely not while my brother loses any shred of stability he has left. In the meantime I'm raking in the money and ruining his career. Hm… Tough choices, these ones. I just don't know what to go for."

He pursed his lips and made a growling noise in the back of his throat while I smiled sweetly up at him, blinking wide eyes innocently. His eye twitched.

Then a hand was at my throat and my back was on the desk, the movement so fast I barely saw it coming. All I had time to do was block the punch aimed at my head.

His eyes flashed as he towered above me, squeezing my throat just enough with his pale bony fingers to make breathing a difficult task.

"Listen, _brat_, you will perform for me, you hear? I need to bring my company back from the dead and you're going to do it for me! I don't give a shit about your brother's mental state or about his disgusting boyfriend; you're going to join me. Whatever it takes, I will have you with me." He wedged a knee between my legs and pushed harder against my throat, twisting the arm that I was holding back out of my grip and placing it on my thigh.

"It's not going to happen. Now kindly get the hell away from me."

He bent forwards close enough that I could feel his lips against my ear. It sent the worst kind of chills running down my spine. "I _won't_ take no for an answer."

I glared at the roof that was now the only thing I could see, and spat out in plain disgust, "Huh, is that what you said to Naruto the first time you molested him?"

Well that certainly surprised him. In his split second of shock I ripped his hand off my throat and jammed my knee up into his crotch, causing him to jerk forward with a cry of pain and bring his forehead into contact with my bony shoulders. I pushed him off me with a grunt and said loudly, "Naruto, open the door!"

There was no answer as Orochimaru slowly straightened up, wincing. I swung my legs over the desk and dropped down onto the other side so that it was acting as a barrier between us.

"Naruto? Naruto!"

Orochimaru laughed as there was still no reply, and I'll admit that my heartbeat started to speed up then. Where the hell was the dobe? He said he'd stay by the door until I came out. Where could he have gone?

"He's your boyfriend, right?"

I narrowed my eyes.

"Ah, I figured as much. I can't say he's a very good one if he's leaving you alone in a room with… well, with _me_."

"Take one step closer and I'll kick you in the balls so hard you'll choke on them."

Another sickening laugh and he did exactly that. Well, I warned him.

In a flash I was around the other side of the desk, weight perfectly balanced to perform a roundhouse kick to the head before I went straight for the sensitive region. I wasn't counting on him being as fast as me though, and got one hell of a surprise when he appeared behind me, one hand gripping my left elbow while the other took a hold of my right. He stuck one of his feet in between my own legs, angling it to prevent any movement, and pulled me in so that I was leaning flush against him.

"I knew you were a feisty one." I could hear his smirk.

"Let me go," I growled.

"No, no I don't think I will."

"I said, let me go."

"And I said no."

"Naruto! Open the fucking door _now_!" The language is excused in a time like this.

There was a loud banging sound from the other side and out of nowhere Kabuto appeared, checking that the lock was still in place. Where the hell did he come from?

"Sasuke? Sasuke! What the hell's happening?"

"What do you think's happening, you dumb shit? Open the god damn door!"

"I can't!"

"Well fucking _get someone who can_!"

Orochimaru was laughing the whole time, his grip on me tightening as he sneakily let go of one elbow and slid an arm around my waist.

"Perform for me, Sasuke. Perform for me and I'll leave him alone."

"You f- what?" My eyes widened slightly and I tried to twist out of his grip but he held me fast.

"I said I'll leave him alone," he breathed, disgustingly close to my ear.

I jerked my head away forcefully. "As if I'd trust you, you sick freak. I'm _not_ joining your stupid-arse theatre group, got it?"

"Not even for Naruto? Not even for your precious _boyfriend_?"

"… You wouldn't stop. I know you wouldn't."

"Oh, I'm hurt, Sasuke. You should give me more credit than that."

"I only give credit when it's deserved, and you sure as hell don't deserve any."

Another quiet laugh, accompanied by the most disturbing thing I believe has ever happened to me. He licked my ear, so lightly I could barely feel it, but it was definitely there. My eyes widened and I suddenly fought violently to get away from him, kicking, scratching and biting anything I could to get him to let go.

I twisted my neck at an impossible angle and found a large expanse of flesh to bite, later realising it was his upper arm. I've always prided myself on having sharp teeth and a strong jaw, so it was no surprise when he howled in pain and let go of my right side, freeing up my arm to do more damage.

I whipped around after ditching the other restraint and punched him full in the gut as I hissed, "Keep you hands off me, and stay the hell away from Naruto or you'll have me to answer to."

He laughed. "You're not very threatening, kid. Like you said before; we've already been through this. I'll 'stay the hell away from Naruto' if and _only_ if you perform for me. Do you know what I could give you?"

"A shit load of mental problems?"

"Oh, someone's got quite the mouth on them today. But you're being so selfish. You obviously don't care for Naruto very –"

"I care for him more than anyone ever has or will."

He grinned and began to walk around the desk towards me. I matched him, staying opposite the entire time. "Strong words for such a young boy."

"Hn."

"So you don't want to be better than your brother?"

"I don't care."

"You don't want to become famous?"

"I don't care."

"Naruto can sleep soundly for once."

My steps faltered and I slowed to a stop. He continued walking around and came to stand behind me, a hand resting lightly on my shoulder.

"I see I'm getting through. Finally."

I said nothing, thinking it over. Yes, thinking it over. I thought I was stronger than this, much stronger, but I knew by now that I turned into a helpless mess whenever Naruto was brought into the equation.

Maybe the freak was actually serious about this. He seemed pretty desperate, really. Naruto… He'd be left alone. For good. All I had to do was act. It really wasn't that hard, was it? Itachi could do it, so why couldn't I? I'd always been one step behind him, and if I took this opportunity I could finally show him up. I could be noticed instead of him. I could turn down my father's offer once and for all, stay in the country, stay at school, stay with Naruto. A mentally healthy Naruto.

The hand on my shoulder slipped down to rest on my hip, but I really wasn't paying attention.

But Itachi. Itachi was my main priority, as much as it pained me to think it. I'd spent so long dealing with his crazed mood swings and wacked-out ideas that there was no way I could go and uproot all the progress we'd made. Yes, progress. Believe it or not, he used to be a lot worse.

Although, Kisame would still be there. Kisame could…

I shook my head forcefully.

This was exactly how Orochimaru wanted me to think. I had to be reasonable. He was forcing things into my mind by bringing up only the bag things that somehow he was right about. The niggly things that had been ticking me off for years. I could ignore them. I had been for God knows how long, so why should I stop now? He couldn't force me to make a decision. He didn't know how I really felt about Itachi. He didn't know anything. He was just a pervert trying to get his way.

I turned to give a condescending lift of the eyebrow, and – oh _Jesus_!

The second I turned around he slammed me onto the desk a second time, basically eating my face. He put what felt like his whole weight on top of me, crushing my lungs as he pushed his lips against mine.

I struggled against him, kicking wildly and trying my utmost to land a punch, but both arms were held down and he was pressing against my legs to restrict any movement.

So I bit him really, _really_ hard.

Strong jaws for the win.

The very second he pulled back I screamed out for Naruto, wrenching one of my arms out of Orochimaru's grip and slamming him in the jaw with an extremely satisfying crack.

I heard a very womanly shriek before the door burst open. Kabuto appeared out of nowhere again, ready to remove whoever was causing the disruption and close it again, but was met with Shizune's fist.

What a woman.

Orochimaru straightened slowly and wiped his mouth of a tiny trickle of blood, glaring at me nastily before putting on a fake smile and folding his hands behind his back, turning to face a huffing Shizune, Naruto standing behind her looking for all the world like he was about to rip someone's throat out. I hoped to God that throat was Orochimaru's.

"Shizune? What a pleasant surprise. What brings you down here at a time like this?"

She stormed into the room and got right up into his face while Naruto followed her in and went straight for me, throwing his arms around my neck and mumbling all sorts of things in my ear that I couldn't make sense of.

"You absolute _creep_! How could you even – to think that – and you – _you_! Get – just get out! _Now_!"

Shizune grabbed him by the hair and yanked him down to her level, as she was considerably shorter than him, and lowered her voice threateningly. She was quite surprising, this lady. No doubt she'd been taught a few things by Tsunade.

"On second thoughts, get your sorry arse into Tsunade's office and explain _everything_. What you were doing to Uchiha just then and what you've been doing to Naruto since you moved in. I'll drag you there by your god damn hair if I have to."

I suddenly realised that Naruto was tugging on my arm pleadingly, trying to get me to follow him. While Shizune continued threatening Orochimaru, I looked at him and tilted my head. "What?"

"Teme, we're going. Now. You said this has to be dealt with, so I'm dealing with it."

I let him drag me out of the room in a daze, Shizune's threats following us out while Orochimaru made smart-arse remarks in reply or simply commented on how wonderful she looked today. As soon as we were out the door, Naruto pulled me into a tight hug, and by the way he was shaking I'd guess he was… he was crying.

"Shit, teme… I'm so sorry. I told you not to go in there. What was he saying to you? What'd he do? Did he hit you? I swear –"

I pulled my head up from where he'd jammed it down onto his shoulder. "Hey, Naruto, I'm fine. He wanted me to act for him, I said no, he got mad and made a move, I punched him a couple of times, bit him occasionally, he tried to blackmail me, made another move, I hit him again then you came in. Or something like that, anyway."

Let's just say the whole ordeal hadn't really set in yet.

Naruto scowled and whipped around, grabbing my hand and dragging me behind him again as he headed off towards the main building.

"The prick's going down," I heard him mumble.

Oh I know where we're going.

* * *

"Listen up, old hag! Get him out of the school or I'm gonna kill him. I swear I'll do it if Shizune doesn't get there first. Just… just get him out. And the freaks that came with him. I don't give a shit about what Jiraiya says, _get rid of them_."

Naruto slammed his hands down on the large wooden desk and glared at his aunt, his ferocity surprising me a little. The principal remained unfazed, however, and simply folded her fingers together and rested her elbows on the desk, regarding him coolly over her hands.

"Do you have any reason for this outburst? Or are you making things up again?"

I stepped forward, deciding right off the bat that there was no way Naruto was going to win this on his own. "Tsunade-sama, with all due respect… the man's an arse."

Tsunade snorted as Naruto whipped around to give me a you're-_really_-not-helping look. I just shrugged and helped myself to a chair while Naruto turned back to his aunt, ready to shout again. She held up a hand to stop him just as he opened his mouth.

"Now you're both conspiring against him? I have it on good word that he is a responsible and dedicated man, and I have seen nothing so far that justifies firing him."

"Oh _you_ haven't – of course you haven't! You think he'd show you what he's really like if you've given him a job here? Just ask Jiraiya, okay? Ask Jiraiya what he gets up to, then you'll know what the hell I'm talking about."

"If she doesn't believe you then she won't believe him."

"Sasuke, you're a great guy and I really like you, but seriously – shut up."

If there was ever a time that called for my gay stance and a good old 'now see _here_', then this was it. But no, I had to content myself with narrowing my eyes a little and giving him an affronted look while Tsunade watched us curiously.

"So you've told him your stories as well, have you?"

Naruto yelled in frustration and threw his hands in the air, his anger coming back tenfold. ""Why won't you _listen_ to me? They're not stories, damn you! You just don't want to admit that there might be more to him than you and my pissy excuse for an uncle think. He's a creep, Tsunade! A fucking paedophile! And if you don't get him out of the fucking house I'll get out of there myself… and change drama teachers while you're at it. You were never hospitable before so why the hell do you feel the need to start with _him_?"

"I've had enough, Naruto!" She looked to be having a hard time restraining herself, and a vein in her temple was clearly pulsing. The muscles in her jaw twitched and she took a deep breath.

"Excuse me," I interrupted loudly, "but I have to say something."

"If it's not going to help then don't bother."

I stood up and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, looking at him intently for a moment to say that I'd handle it, and turned to Tsunade, still sitting with her hands folded before her face.

"Why do you think Naruto came storming up here now of all times?"

She said nothing, waiting for me to continue.

"What class do you think we just had?"

She shrugged.

"Who could our teacher have been?"

She cocked an eyebrow and I realised she'd caught on.

"What does our teacher like to do to young boys?"

I kept going before she could interrupt.

"Who has a brother in the acting company? Who is in some new perverted play that said teacher came up with? Who was kept back in class? Who was it who kept me back in class? Are you starting to see a pattern? Is it all falling into place?"

She narrowed her eyes at me, scowling. Oh yes, I was getting through.

"Naruto doesn't lie, Tsunade, and I think you know that. You also know why he dragged me up here, so don't play dumb and ignore it. Do something about it."

She dropped her hands onto the desk and pushed herself up slowly, her face tinged pink now and her eyes promising a rant.

Naruto took a tiny step back.

"I have had _enough_ of your lies – the both of you. I employ teachers who know their profession well and are suited to the teaching position. The fact that Orochimaru was recommended to me by my husband has nothing to do with it. Nothing, you hear? He is a teacher at this school and while he remains a teacher here you will treat him with the proper respect. You will not tell falsehoods just because you don't like him, and you will most certainly _not_ try and get his dismissed." Her voice resumed its usual fake cheer. "Now, Naruto, if you would kindly step out of my office and take your boyfriend with you so I can resume my work…"

She left the hint at that and gestured towards the door, but neither of us moved. Oh yes, we were surprised. Naruto stumbled over his words before managing to make a squeaking sound and deciding to say nothing, letting his silence ask the obvious question.

She put her hands on her hips. "What, you thought I didn't know?"

We both nodded slowly.

"I'm not stupid, you know. And yes, I'm taking that little fact into account while you're making up crap about one of my teachers. You're doing the wonderful little couply thing where you support each other, but I'll have you know, Sasuke, that Naruto is very good at guilt-tripping and I'm afraid he's got you roped in."

I blew my fringe out of my eyes in a huff and was just about to give her a piece of my mind before Naruto put a hand on my arm to stop me just as the door burst open to reveal a _very_ murderous-looking Shizune, black hair spiking in odd directions and face flushed from exertion.

"Shizune?"

"Boys, get out. I have some things to discuss with the principal."

We didn't need to be told twice.

Naruto sent one last glare his aunt's way before grabbing my hand and yanking me out the door.

But… but I wasn't finished yet.

Shizune stepped back to let us out and we stalked down the passageway silently, both stewing in our own anger. I was ready to kill someone, to be honest. Namely Tsunade. Or Orochomaru. Even Kabuto would do. Possibly even Jiraiya for suggesting his snake friend for teaching.

As we walked out of the double doors to the courtyard outside the office building, I yanked my hand out of Naruto's vice-like grip and punched the nearest solid object, which just so happened to be a brick wall.

I got a sick burst of pleasure from the pain it brought.

Naruto cried out next to me and put a hand on my shoulder to turn me around, throwing his arms around me again and apologising over and over. I flexed the fingers I'd just abused and watched as a tiny bit of blood came from my knuckles.

Maybe this is something like how Itachi felt in his Murder Mood.

I buried my nose into Naruto's neck and whispered, "Does he always do that? Does he always screw with your mind to get what he wants?"

Naruto gave me a dejected nod and I tightened my arms that I'd looped around his waist, suddenly feeling an intensely strong burst of affection. One that made me stop breathing for a second.

"We'll get him. I swear it."

* * *

My brain couldn't keep up with the changes. Too many, far too many. I went from wanting to kill several people to wanting to cry until there was no water left in my body to wanting to kill _myself_ back to wanting to kill several people (my parents this time), then to… watching my brother jump on the couch.

Yes, jump on the couch.

Repeatedly.

Making yipping noises.

With the occasional squeal.

I thumped my head on the dining table loudly.

Life was cruel.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke!"

I groaned. "_Yes_, congratulations, you know your brother's name, now would you _please_ stop repeating it?"

"Sasuke!"

"What?!"

He jumped onto the coffee table and I winced, expecting it to cave under his weight. Lucky he was small despite his age. "I'm so happy!" he shouted, launching himself back onto the couch and jumping up and down, up and down.

"That's nice."

"I know!"

"Please shut up."

"Someone's cra-anky-y…!"

"Yes, yes I am."

"So why are ya home early?"

I shrugged and ran a hand through my hair. "Didn't feel like hanging around."

"You were home early yesterday, too."

I glanced at him in confusion before dropping my eyes back to my work. "You weren't here yesterday either."

"I was in the walls, silly."

I bit back a snort and rolled my eyes. "Of course you were."

"Soo…. What's up? I want you to be _happy_! You're my brother! If I'm happy then you should be happy!"

I restrained from hitting my head on the table again. "You have _no_ idea what kind of week I've had."

"Was it excellent, amazing, wonderful, and full of love, beauty, happiness, butterflies, oranges, smiles, cool breezes, romantic comedies, owls, clay, sunshine, candles and rainbows?"

"No."

He cackled and kept jumping. "Then what happened? I bet you had fun!"

"Itachi, my drama teacher tried to rape me, my principal, who just happens to be my boyfriend's aunt, found out we were dating, I have to perform in some perverted play that your director, now my teacher, wrote for us, _and_ for the last two days everyone at school's been talking about how I'm getting suspended for badmouthing the principal and hitting a teacher. Which I'm not."

My brother stopped jumping, his face slowly changing from an insanely happy grin to one of total confusion. "That's… that's not good, Sasuke."

"No, it's not, you're right."

There was a brief silence before he said quietly, "So… I don't get it."

I sighed. "Don't get what?"

"Who's your drama teacher?"

"Orochimaru."

Itachi gasped and his hand flew to his mouth, eyes wide in surprise. "No!"

I nodded.

"I know him!"

I nodded again while on the inside I was cursing the medication for taking a day off today. I'd watched him take every single one so far, and checked that they'd all been swallowed. Maybe he was fighting them or something, but yesterday he said he still couldn't do maths problems fast enough, so maybe… oh I didn't know. I wasn't a doctor – how was I supposed to understand any of this stuff?

"He owns our company! But not for long. Kisame was telling me that Pein and Tobi have a _secret plan_."

"Yes, yes they do."

"How do yo-ou know?" His voice turned into that of a four year old being a smartarse and thinking he knew everything.

"Because he told me as well."

"…Oh." Itachi gave me a strange look before suddenly resuming his manic jumping and squealing.

Oh yes, ignore everything I just said about my horrible harassment-filled week, why don't you. Pathetic excuse for a brother.

"So did you badmouth the principal?"

Oh, so maybe he was listening.

"Yep."

"Good! I bet she deserved it."

"She did."

"So what'd that guy I know do?"

"… Nothing."

"Come o-o-on, you can tell me. I'll beat him up for you!"

"I did that already, thanks."

"Haha! Serves him right for messing with you."

I nodded, feeling my mouth twitch up at the corners despite myself. He was in a good mood, so why couldn't I be? I looked up from the dining table where I had my latest science assignment spread out before me, and gave him the best smile I could.

"Thanks, bro."

"Yay! Smile! I'm so happy!"

I laughed and bent my head back down over my work, thankful that today was a Happy Brother day.

"Oh! I almost forgot!"

Itachi jumped down from the couch with a loud _thud_ and came bounding up to me, stupid grin still in place. I found myself smiling full-on now as well, laughing at him under my breath. Really, he was a good kid when he didn't want to kill me.

He put a hand on his chin in sudden thought and said quietly, "Now… there was something… Kisame… hmm…"

I raised my eyebrows at him, still smiling, and he scowled at me.

"Hang on, hang on, I'm thinking… Aha! Got it!" He got right up close to my face and said, "Kisame says 'Get him off them now. I can deal with it.'… Or something like that, anyway."

I felt my smile grow even wider.

Excellent.

* * *

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out, checking the screen before answering. I frowned at it, a little surprised to see who it was.

"Gaara?"

"Yo, you at work?"

"Yeah, on break but I only have another hour after this. Why?"

"I need to vent so badly, and Temari and Kankuro are getting scared. Neji's here but he's going to die soon. I won't come to the café because Matsuri will definitely die, and I don't want to scare Hinata. So it's you and Neji in the park in an hour."

And the line went dead.

I stared at the screen blankly for a moment before slowly flipping it shut and sliding it back into my pocket.

Okay… I see he's still as blunt as ever.

I checked the time and slowly walked back inside, surprised at having my day planned for me so… immediately.

With a frown, I watched as Matsuri flitted around the tables in her little annoying mousy way, and charmed customers into thinking she was just _so cute_!

Hn.

I nodded to Hiro as I walked past the coffee machine. Poor kid was working ten times the usual pace because, well… he was really the only one here who could make coffee.

And then the door opened, and I died a little inside.

Matsuri and I looked at each other, telling the other with our eyes that there was no hope in hell we were going to serve them. I narrowed my black eyes slightly, _telling_ her to go to them.

She narrowed her own and I raised an eyebrow.

She raised hers as well.

Oh so that's how she likes to play, is it?

I tapped the pen on the pad in my hands and slowly made my way over to her, never breaking eye contact. Oh yes, I can see you faltering you annoying rodent. You run away, that's right. Hah.

She took two steps back before turning on her heel and rushing up to greet Iruka and Kakashi. I watched them out of the corner of my eye as I served… someone, and literally felt all the colour drain from my face when Iruka looked straight at me and jerked his head, beckoning me over to them.

I pointedly ignored it, and continued serving whoever I was serving.

I also ignored the polite cough.

And the not-so-polite one.

And the very badly masked, "Uchiha, get over here."

I couldn't, however, ignore it when Kakashi-sensei shoved his face right in front of mine and said, "_You_, Uchiha, are ignoring us."

"Congratulations."

"Aah, you're pissed off about something."

"Again, congratulations."

"Care to tell us all about it over at our usual table?"

"Not really, no."

The old man gripped my elbow with a strong hand and pulled me away from my customers, who were watching very curiously, and led me over to a waiting Iruka-sensei. He was looking very… fidgety, if I had to narrow it down to one word.

"Uchiha, sit down with us. You've got enough people working today to cover for you."

I scowled. "You know, you should be paying me for the amount of times you've dragged me away from work."

He waved his hand, brushing me off. "Yeah, yeah."

I 'hmph'ed and sat down heavily on the uncomfortable wooden chair with my arms crossed. Iruka and Kakashi followed my lead and sat, Kakashi pulled a menu towards him. Iruka slapped his hand down on it with a shake of his head.

"We don't have time for that, Kakashi."

"But –"

"What do you want to talk about?"

Kakashi gave me an annoyed look through his one visible eye but I ignored him, staring straight at Iruka. Of course I knew exactly why they were hounding me at work yet _again_, but I figured he could start.

He leant back against the chair and rested his arms on the table, idly playing with the sugar sachets.

"You didn't come and talk to me on Thursday, and you weren't at class Friday."

"I know."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "Something happened on Wednesday, I forgot about Thursday because of it, and Friday I didn't feel like going to class."

It was true, really. I honestly did forget about talking to Iruka on Thursday lunchtime, because I was still… preoccupied. With murder plans. I skipped fencing class, too. I didn't think my anger was at a suitably low enough level to participate in that particular lesson. Then I went to first two periods on Friday, snapped a pencil in half when I got told off for not doing any work by Kurenai-sensei, and decided to call it a day. Naruto, brick wall to anything that bothered him, seemed perfectly fine. I couldn't understand how he did it.

Kakashi snorted. "You just admitted to skipping, you realise. To a teacher. Two of them."

I nodded, clearly not caring. "Yep."

He chuckled this time while Iruka dropped his eyes to stare at the sugar packet he was rolling between his fingers, brow creasing in thought.

"Kakashi, leave him alone."

"But he's clearly fine! Why do-"

"No, I'm serious. Let him be."

Kakashi and I both gave Iruka confused looks, not understanding his sudden change in attitude. Yes, it was like him to be protective of students and to tell Kakashi when to shut up, but he said it so… commandingly. Dark, even. Not like Iruka at all.

"Iruka-sensei… what -?"

"You mentioned something about Naruto on Tuesday, didn't you?"

I nodded.

"So you know?"

I blinked slowly, his words taking a second to convey their full meaning.

"Wait – _you_ know? He said he hadn't told you! That's why I was so hesitant to say anything in class… How did you find out?"

It was a moment before he gave a sigh and slumped forward in his seat. Kakashi sat up properly and put a hand on his partner's shoulder, squeezing it lightly before finally seeming to understand how serious this was and speaking for Iruka.

"Short story even shorter, Shizune often comes and vents to us, if you will. A while ago she came in ranting her head off and accidentally let something slip. We got it out of her and have been her go-to guys ever since. She came in Thursday morning raving about Orochimaru and Tsunade and you and Naruto and all sorts of whatnot. It wasn't hard to figure it out once she calmed down a bit, but then we had to calm down this one."

He jerked his head in Iruka's direction with a slight smile, and ruffled his pineapple-style ponytail.

I said nothing. There was nothing _to_ say, really. Then I felt my anger rising again, and I had to take a deep slow breath to calm myself down.

If they knew, then why the _hell_ weren't they doing something about it?! They were teachers – a position of power within the school – yet they still let the creep teach for a whole month without doing _anything_?

I clenched and unclenched my fists slowly, and was about to stand up and excuse myself when a reassuring hand was placed over my own. I glanced at Iruka, who was looking at me apologetically, and settled back down again.

I should at least hear what he had to say.

"U- Sasuke…" Well, that was a start. "I know you're angry and probably want to punch our lights out, but you have to think of the position we're in. To make claims against another teacher is a big deal, and we could very well lose our jobs. We were biding our time, trying to find reasons to back ourselves up, because you know as well as us that the word of a few teachers and a couple of students is going to do nothing. We needed evidence, and then you showed up asking questions. Kakashi and I had decided to let you in on it, because you obviously have a strong reason to kick the bastard out."

I nodded slowly, understanding exactly where he was coming from. "So… now that we all know and we know that we know… We're working together."

Both teachers nodded, and I simply shrugged.

"How are you planning on getting this 'evidence' or whatever? Tsunade's a stubborn bitch and no I don't care if she's the principal, I'll say whatever I damn well want about her. She's a stubborn bitch and she's refusing to see this for what it is _despite_ –" I figured I'd stop there.

"We know, Sasuke. Shizune rants to us, remember?"

Oh yeah…

"Well, whatever." I glanced at the clock. "I have work to do, and as interesting as this is, I'd prefer it if you just figured out what you were going to do and tell me then."

I stood up, bowing my head politely and was about to kindly ask them if they would like to order when Iruka said quietly, "You know the others that Tsunade hired? The 'teachers'?"

I raised an eyebrow, telling him to go on.

He started playing with the sugar sachets again, twirling them absently between his fingers. Kakashi laid a hand on his arm and looked up to me, his expression that of complete seriousness.

"They've all got histories and they all hate one of your friends for a certain reason. Find out what they are and we'll take it from there."

For some reason, this felt like a premonition about Sharingan and what it would be like controlling assassins and the military at once. Use one for information, the other for the dirty work.

… Oh, I'm too young for this.

* * *

So… things are a'happenin… and I plan on having much more happen next! Shall we see Matsuri next chapter? Will Sasuke's chocolate stash be threatened? Let's throw some Itachi in there as well. Why not, ey?

And **K1M**, I absolutely love all your reviews (especially the super long ones!), I just _never_ have the chance to reply But trust me, they're read and considered, every one of them. Same goes for all you other reviewers! I appreciate them all so much! -has to double check the number of reviews already- ... wow...

Review!


	10. Oh You So Did Not

Itachi and His Door Beliefs: credit to **Rikado**. I love you. Really. And your sister. I hope it came out okay… I had to go on a very vague memory for the most part. Thank you!

And now… Chapter 10! Wow… has it really been that long? o.O

WHY WON'T THE DIVIDERS WORK?! -bows- I'm so sorry, but _man_ is my computer retarded.

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

10. OH YOU SO DID NOT

"Uchiha, it's four o'clock. Get your arse over to the park before Gaara starts –" A quiet gasp from nearby made him change tracks suddenly, "I mean no, not Gaara. Uh… Kiba, that's who I meant. Kiba's getting really mad at the moment, and we all know what Dog Boy's like when he's pissed off, so… Let's go."

Neji glanced nervously at Matsuri before turning back to me, looking a little desperate if I must say so.

"Now."

I checked my watch, looked up at the clock, made a few tutting noises and looked to Hiro for confirmation.

"Can I leave now? Do you need any extra help?"

Hiro shook his head and waved me away. "Nah, go meet up with the angsty one. Matsuri, Aki and I have it covered."

"You're sure? I can stay back, no trouble." Yes, yes I am indeed delighting at Neji's inner turmoil, debating whether or not to be polite and wait for me or just drag me out of there by my hair.

"No, really, just go. We'll be fine. Have fun!"

I opened my mouth to triple-check and piss Neji off even further when I felt a firm hand take my elbow and pull me away with a, "Thanks great wonderful now let's leave."

Matsuri was still watching us, following us desperately with her eyes and even starting to walk after us when Hiro quickly cut in with a stern, "_No_, Matsuri. You will stay here and work."

She made a whiny noise as I grinned nastily at her, waving goodbye with false cheer and heading out the door after my long-haired friend.

Oh, if looks could kill…

Well, if looks could kill, Neji, Gaara and I would all be mass murderers.

I tugged my arm out of the Hyuuga's grip and straightened out my jacket, thankful that I had it with me this time. "So why did he send you?"

Neji snorted and jerked his head back in the direction of the café before he said, "Do you think he'd willingly step into _that_ thing's territory?"

I smirked. "Point." A brief pause. "You are so his bitch."

Neji huffed and checked the street both ways before crossing and heading over to the park, me following close behind. "I, Uchiha, am no one's 'bitch'."

I snorted. "Yeah, right."

He sent a cold look my way and chose to leave it at that, not seeing any point in arguing what we all knew was true.

I sighed. "Pity though, you know how close he and Hinata are."

"I have no interest in stealing my cousin's boyfriend."

"Yes you do."

"Naruto has made you ten times more annoying."

"Most likely, yes."

"Most definitely."

I shrugged, not finding the energy to be insulted, or even to figure out whether or not I should be insulted. "The fact still stands that you want him in the pants."

"And the fact still stands that it doesn't matter what I want."

"Aah, so you admit it?"

"There is nothing to admit."

"Stop talking crap."

"Stop asking crap questions."

"Stop bickering!"

We both snapped our heads up from our little mini-argument to see a very pissed off Gaara standing by the swing set, arms crossed and looked for all the world like he'd would enjoy nothing more than to rip someone's throat out.

I raised an eyebrow. "I see why you didn't want to talk to Hinata. The poor girl would have nightmares for the rest of her life."

"Shut up, Uchiha."

I gave Neji a well-isn't-_he_-a-feisty-one look and turned back to Gaara, sitting down and leaning against the nearest tree, hugging my legs close for warmth. This winter was lasting for _ever_.

Both my friends followed suit and sat down, Gaara with a bit more oomph than the dignified Hyuuga, and I waited for Gaara to start.

"I'm gonna kill him. I swear he's going to die. Both of them."

I smiled a little despite myself, surprised at how familiar this all was. We hadn't had a good bitch with just the three of us in so long, it was good to get back to basics.

"Both?" Neji asked. "Who's the other guy?"

"Deidara." He spat the name out angrily, and I truly felt sorry for whoever this guy was.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Who?"

"The ceramics teacher," Neji supplied when Gaara didn't answer, too preoccupied with tearing up blades of grass into tiny, tiny shreds. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what he was picturing it to be in his head.

I creased my brow, not recognising the name or the position. It had to be one of Orochimaru's gang, though. They all seemed to be rather lacking in surnames, this bunch.

"What does he look like?"

Gaara answered this time. "Blonde hair like a girl, an eye patch like Kakshi-senesi, and a total baby face that's just begging to be smashed in."

I nodded slowly in mock understanding. "Yes, yes, I know exactly who you're talking about."

My psychotic red-headed pal made a growling noise in his throat and punched his fist into the ground, glaring up at me. Neji oh-so-subtly placed a hand on his knee to calm him down, surprisingly succeeding a little.

I raised a hand into the air in surrender and said, "All right, all right. What did he do?"

That got him going.

"What _didn't_ he do? I see him for the first time and he starts ranting about how much Sasori hates me so automatically he doesn't like me either, and how when they're out of this hell hole he's going to kick my arse so bad I won't be able to walk for a year. Getting right up into my face, you know – so I punched him. What else was I supposed to do? I was _really_ pissed off! Then I get called to the principal's office and get a Saturday detention for it, Temari goes off at me when I get home because the school rang her, Kankuro comes home drunk again which means Temari goes even crazier, I have to go to Lee's for the night and _argh_! I fucking _hate them_!"

"Clearly."

"Not helping, Uchiha."

Then a thought hit me, and I realised that I'd been provided with an opportunity so soon.

"Did you tell Tsunade that you were provoked?"

"Of course I did."

"And she said…?"

"To stop making up stories."

I creased my brow in thought. She must really like that line, huh?

"Is he your teacher for anything or did you just run into him?"

Gaara raised a would-be eyebrow at me and said slowly, "Ceramics… why?"

I thought for a moment, trying to decide how to approach this. I couldn't tell them all of it, obviously, but maybe…

Neji interrupted my train of thought. "Does this have something to do with what happened in drama on Wednesday?"

Well, isn't he a sharp one?

I glanced at him quickly before averting my eyes to the ground, resting my chin on my hands and leaning forwards a little. But how could he have known anything about… the Orochimaru incident? I felt a surge of a mixture between panic and anger, and tried to sort out the sudden rush of thoughts.

Maybe he hadn't heard that, but was thinking of something else. He probably had no idea about what happened after class, or in Tsunade's office. But what if he just happened to be walking past her office at the time and overheard it?

I tried to recall the entire conversation, hoping that nothing was said about Naruto, but couldn't remember a thing.

Shit.

"Sasuke?"

Neji was looking at me funny while Gaara was watching me curiously.

"Sorry, what?"

They both exchanged strange looks before Gaara said, "We know that whole story about you hitting him and getting suspended is a lie."

I was unfazed. "Yeah, so do all our friends."

Neji shook his head. "No, we mean that there was something else going on. I was walking past the office to talk to Shizune about something but she wasn't there, so I went to Tsunade's office and heard you asking her all these questions. It didn't take much to piece together, you know. You should've been more careful."

… Crap.

Gaara sighed as I did the fish-out-of-water face and rubbed his forehead. "Look, we don't expect you to go into details… but what the _hell_ happened?"

I continued opening and closing my mouth stupidly, waiting for it all to catch up to my brain. Really, Naruto must have been having more of an effect on me than I thought if I was this slow.

"Well – I – uh – just… yes…"

They both raised an eyebrow at me. I took the liberty of facepalming.

"I don't know what happened. A lot of shit, really."

"Such as…?" Neji prompted.

I frowned and looked over their heads at the swing set, watching a young girl get pushed back and forth into the air by her father. I creased my brow, realising that I could explain and not explain at the same time. Take the cheap way out, if you will.

"He made a move and it got a little crazy, Naruto went and got Shizune after I yelled out for him and Naruto and I went to Tsunade's office while Shizune stayed back with Orochimaru. Tsunade told us exactly what she told you, I got a little pissed off which is what you heard, and then Shizune came back and kicked us out. End of story."

They gave me sceptical looks. I bit my lip. They weren't buying it.

"We're not buying it," Gaara stated. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

I shrugged it off. "Well that's what happened. Take it or leave it."

"You're leaving an awful lot out."

I glared at the Hyuuga, just daring him to make me explain any more. He completely ignored my very clear warning and said while inspecting his nails, "Naruto's involved with Orochimaru somehow. We're not stupid."

I scowled further. "Yes, you are stupid. Clearly it's something that doesn't concern either of you and if you would kindly leave it at that I'd really appreciate it. Now if we get back to the original point of plotting a certain two teacher's murders, I think we'd all be a lot happier."

None of us said anything for a while, both of them staring me down. I put up a fight though, and after a long stretch of eyes twitching and jaws clenching, Neji finally tore his eyes away and shrugged.

"Fine, but you pretty much brought it up with all your questions. What does it matter if Deidara is Gaara's teacher or not?"

Gaara was still staring at me, and it was a moment before I answered Neji, too preoccupied with glaring at Gaara with equal force. Oh, how I missed this.

"It matters because all of those new teachers we have this year clearly aren't teachers. They shouldn't be in the school. Tsunade's being a stubborn bitch about it all and not listening to us, despite everything with Orochimaru. If these guys keep doing it, and it's bound to keep happening if they actually teach your class, then we can get them fired. I want Orochimaru out of the school. Now. I don't care how, I just want him out."

I got the sceptical looks again, but ignored them completely. They didn't have to know the ins and outs of everything.

"Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei have talked to me about it, and Shizune wants them out too. We need to shove it right in Tsunade's face before she does anything, and if it means provoking your teachers to incriminate them or whatever, do it. Seriously."

They were both silent for a moment, thinking it over, and I couldn't help but be a little proud of myself. I'd explained but not explained at the same time, and hadn't given anything about Naruto away despite what they might have overheard. Although to be honest, I didn't think Gaara would need much convincing to get Deidara fired. He seemed to cope okay with Sasori in class, but Deidara must have been a downright prick to get him this worked up.

Neji shook his head after a moment. "If this damages my marks you'll have to answer to my uncle."

I shrugged, not really caring. If it meant Orochimaru was out then I was all for it.

Gaara smirked, suddenly getting to his feet and nodding in appreciation. "Sounds like a plan, Uchiha."

Neji and I followed his lead, and the Hyuuga brushed his pants off as he said, "It does indeed."

I smirked at them both before turning on my heel and calling over my shoulder, "Just don't tell Naruto."

It most certainly did.

**-dividers won't work- -this is a line- **

I glared at my alarm, willing it to spontaneously combust.

I narrowed my eyes further.

Stop your incessant noise, you spawn of the devil. No one wakes me up at this hour. _No one_.

Especially on a Sunday, damnit. And _especially_ after a dream like the one I was just enjoying. Enjoying very much, thank you.

"Sa-su-ke-e!"

Itachi came bounding into my room, thumping his feet heavily on the ground with each syllable of my name and dragging out the last one in a whiny voice.

I picked up the nearest pillow and threw it at him.

The damn kid ducked, grinning madly.

"That's not very nice, Mr I Hate The World."

I grunted in response, tucking my head further into the pillow and turning my focus to willing my brother to spontaneously combust.

"Come on, get up!"

I grunted questioningly.

"Because you've been in bed for the last twelve hours."

Another questioning grumble.

"That's far too long!"

And again.

"Sasuke, get out of bed _now_. You're such a grumpy shit all the time because you're so tired. Get up and actually do something and the world might be able to deal with you. Get moving. Up. Now."

His sudden change in tone was what made me look up, and I found him with his arms crossed and eyes hard. It didn't worry me in the slightest that he was suddenly back to Bitch Brother, it was the fact that I now had to come up with a plausible excuse for him to take his medicine. I'd told Chiyo it'd be two weeks and today was the last day, but when he was 'normal' he was a lot harder to convince. And I so wasn't up for it this early in the morning.

I opened my eyes angrily and threw the covers back.

"Fine!"

He grinned. "Good. Breakfast's on the table."

… Okay, so maybe he wasn't Bitch Brother today.

I raised an eyebrow at his retreating back as the door slammed behind him, and lay back on the pillows. Then I realised what day it was.

Sunday.

Time to see Chiyo.

I groaned and rolled over, burying my face in my pillow and muttering a few choice curse words at it. I wasn't leaving Itachi on his own today – I had a bad feeling. That meant I had to make up some lame-arse excuse and take him with me. Great.

With my standard piss-me-off-and-you-_die_ expression I heaved myself out of bed and pulled on some track pants and a jumper, heading out to the kitchen to see a waiting plate of… toast.

I blew my fringe out of my eyes in annoyance.

Honestly, he could've come up with something better than _toast_.

Still, food was food, and I probably wouldn't have eaten if it wasn't already here for me.

Itachi was standing at the sink, staring down at a box on the bench and a glass of water in his hand. He didn't look very happy. He lifted his head to give me a confused look and asked, "What are these?"

I shrugged, swallowing my mouthful of toast before saying, "Tablets."

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Der, but why is my name on them?"

"Because they're yours.

"Why do I need them?"

"There's something going round. I don't want you getting sick."

He raised an eyebrow. Oh he so did not believe me.

"I don't believe you."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself. Get sick and die."

He snorted and picked up the box, turning it over in his hands, and boy I was thankful for Chiyo putting it in a nondescript box. "What are they really for?"

I sighed and swallowed my last bite of toast before glaring at him. "They're for you and they're so that you don't get sick. I took mine yesterday, so you can take yours."

He shook his head. "Not buying it, bro. What are you giving me?"

"Incredibly potent illegal drugs."

"Well that's all right then."

… And he took one out of the box, throwing it down his throat and washing it down with a large gulp of water.

I'd have to file that one away for future use if I ever put him on them again.

I shook my head at him in disbelief and threw my plate into the sink, leaving it until after dinner to be washed, and wandered back into my room as Itachi frowned down at his glass, rubbing his stomach absently. I ignored the guilty twist my stomach treated me to.

Lost in thought, I made my way from my room to the bathroom, showered and dressed myself at a leisurely pace, still not fully awake, and only really came to my senses when Same decided to launch himself at my bare feet.

I swore and shouted and screeched to my heart's content as he insisted on playing with my left big toe, and I found myself thanking my brother profusely when he removed the cat from a ten foot radius of me.

Honestly, that thing had been great for a while, and now it was starting its psycho phase again.

It must take after Itachi.

**-dividers won't work- -this is a line- **

I watched with a sense of dread as Itachi looked around the waiting room, eyes wide in wonderment. He spread his arms out wide, spinning in a circle and cackling like a three year old.

"Wow!"

"It's not that amazing, now come sit back down."

He shook his head and wandered over to the receptionist desk, where a tall thin man was watching my brother nervously. I didn't blame the poor guy. Itachi's expression changed to that of complete seriousness as he rested his elbows on the low desk, regarding the poor receptionist with a stern eye.

"Hello."

"Hello…?"

"Do you believe in doors?"

The man looked a little bewildered for a moment, and stammered out, "I – I'm sorry?"

"I asked you if you believed in doors."

I facepalmed. Oh God, that poor, poor man. But I knew better than to interrupt, and so had no choice but to stand there and watch my brother interrogate a man about… doors.

What did I do to deserve this?

"I… Well, I don't – don't think I know what you, uh, what you mean…"

Itachi tutted and flicked his hair back, a hand on his hip. "I meant exactly what I said. Do you believe in doors?"

The receptionist failed to provide an answer again, and his face slowly turned a frightening shade of scarlet.

"Because I do," Itachi went on. "I definitely do. They're amazing, really. There are people inside them, you know. There's a whole other world in there."

"R-Really?"

"Of course there is." My brother put on this expression that just dared the stuttering man to argue, and flicked his hair again.

Oh how I wanted to throttle him.

Then, joy of all joys, Sakura walked out into the waiting room and stopped short, eyes widening a little in surprise to see both of us in there together. Indeed, I'd only ever brought Itachi with me to the ward once before, and that wasn't for medication reasons. It all went back to that incident with the soap…

She composed herself in record time, however, and turned her attention to my brother immediately.

"I know exactly what you mean."

Itachi spun around to face her, an ecstatic smile on his face as he threw his hands up in the air. "Finally! Someone understands! I just don't see how these people haven't noticed it before, to be honest. I mean really, how blind can you be?"

Sakura snorted and rolled her eyes. "I know _exactly_ what you mean." She held out her hand to him and motioned him towards her encouragingly. "Come on, let's discuss it over tea."

Itachi was positively delighted with that idea, so much so that he squealed and grabbed Sakura's proffered arm immediately. And off they went together, leaving me with the ability to breathe again and no more need to think of an excuse to get Itachi out of my hair for the ten minutes needed to talk to Chiyo.

I'd buy her something nice another time.

Five more minutes of clenching and unclenching my fists and Chiyo walked out of her office. She looked mildly surprised to see me, but I knew she wouldn't have any patients because it was meant to be her lunch break now.

I walked up to her purposefully.

"Sasuke, it's lovely to see you, but I'm just on my way out."

"I'll be quick."

She sighed and gave me a dirty look before opening her door again and stepping aside to let me through.

I stepped straight inside and sat on the spare chair, lacing my fingers across my stomach. I waited for her to sit down and get comfortable before I started, and when I did I made sure to get straight to the point.

"You win."

She raised an eyebrow. "I was in a competition?"

"I don't want Itachi on those meds anymore."

She smirked knowingly. "I knew you'd grow a conscience sometime soon."

"It wasn't me who got a conscience."

"Oh?"

"It was his boyfriend. I told Kisame it was up to him, and he made the decision."

"Right… And do you agree with this decision?"

I nodded and she smiled.

"So how's he been?"

I shrugged. "He was pretty up and down for the first week, but then he started to settle. It's just that he settled so much that he slowed down entirely. He realised something was happening, too, and he kept trying to do maths problems faster than me or Kisame and got really angry at himself when he couldn't. Then when Naruto was over he went out of control."

"Out of control as in…?" She left the question hanging, but I knew what she meant.

"Yeah. That."

She nodded slowly and 'hmm'ed to herself quietly. "Am I right to assume that was the last major mood swing?"

I shrugged. "The last bad one, yeah. He went insanely happy last Friday afternoon, but that was pretty short lived before he went back to normal. Normal as in vague and indifferent about everything. The Itachi prior to insanity."

Chiyo smiled faintly and coughed lightly, clearing her throat. "Well, I'm glad you came to your senses. Honestly, Itachi seems to operate better without medication. Of course his mood swings are more frequent, but they don't seem to do him much harm. Even from your very brief explanation I could tell that he wasn't happy not knowing what was happening to him and why he was suddenly slowing down. With some people they take it as a given and just accept it, but, especially with your brother's line of work, it seems to have affected him more. It's best to have him on the placebos or not taking anything at all than risking depression. That is something he definitely doesn't need."

I nodded, understanding, and ran a hand through my hair. "But… aren't the mood swings putting extra stress on him or whatever? Because he's switching personalities so much?"

Chiyo shook her head. "No, apparently not. He seems to operate closer to his full potential when he's constantly changing. I don't know why that is, but as long as we know what's better for him, we can work from there."

I nodded again and stood up to go, not wanting to keep her from her break much longer, and not knowing how long Sakura could put up with Itachi for.

I would _really_ have to buy her something nice.

"So, now you know he's back to nothing. Happy?"

She laughed lightly and stood up as well. "It's not about whether or not we're happy, Sasuke, it's about what's best for the patient. Now go and save Sakura."

**-dividers won't work- -this is a line- **

A knock at the door broke my half sleep, tired after yet another day in the hellhole I was soon to be leaving. Pushing Same off my lap and untangling my legs out from under me, I made my way over to the door. I opened it slowly, unsure who it could be at this time and (in a twisted change of heart) found myself hoping it was Kisame. I had to thank him for accepting my offer and making a decision about my brother.

But no, when I opened the door it wasn't to see a spiky-haired creepy shark man, but a boy with insanely blonde hair and bright blue eyes launching himself at me in a panic.

"Argh! Sasuke! I haven't done the science assignment and Iruka's gonna _kill_ me! I was gonna ask him for help today but completelyforgot and oh man I am _so_ screwed! I rang Shikamaru but apparently he's out with Temari, Choji's not much help and Sakura's at tutor or something. _Help me_! I have no idea what I'm doing!"

I patted Naruto's back awkwardly before pushing off me and holding him at arms length with my eyebrows raised. "You know, you could have said all of that without yelling or throwing yourself at me."

He grinned and ruffled my hair, playing with the spikes at the back. "But you love me throwing myself at you."

I shrugged, conceding defeat. "That's true."

He laughed and I stepped aside to let him in, waiting for him to remove his shoes and step out of the way before closing the door behind him and wandering back over to my chair. Same was gone again, but I could hear Itachi talking to something in his room so assumed the cat was in there with him.

At least I hoped he was. Itachi talking to himself usually led to trying to kill me. Not fun.

I tapped the ground with my foot, inviting Naruto to sit like we usually did. He collapsed to the ground with a huff and leaned back against my legs, dropping his head and looking at me upside down.

"So, gonna help?"

I shrugged. "You had all today's lesson to ask anyone in our class but you still forgot. Even though Iruka-sensei reminded us it was due tomorrow."

He smiled sheepishly. "Well… yeah."

I stared down at him in a disbelieving silence for a moment, but found myself concentrating more on the line of his jaw than on scolding him. He did have a very nice bone structure, I must say.

"So…" he urged. "Explain."

I nodded my head in the direction of the dining table, where my assignment was in a neat pile waiting to be handed in tomorrow. He scowled at me. "But I just sat down!"

I cleared my throat, realising it was a little… thick. Whatever that meant. "Look through it."

Naruto mumbled under his breath for a moment but stood up anyway, heaving himself to his feet with a lot of noise, and made his way over to the dining table. He leant over it, resting on his elbows, and began flicking through my work, making noises of realisation occasionally.

I, however, was paying absolutely no attention to science whatsoever. I was far more interested, to put it bluntly, in watching Naruto's arse as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.

Oh yes, my mind was definitely in the gutter today.

I tried to tear my gaze away but found it much more difficult than I thought it would be. Oh, not good. Very not good. I shook my head. It probably wasn't safe for him to be here today, and I blame it on my wild imagination while I'm sleeping.

Honestly, this last week I've been plagued with dreams that I _really_ haven't wanted to wake up from, and the tension must have decided today was a good day to make itself known.

Because making out was fun, sure, and the next time we had a repeat of last Saturday I'd be more than pleased, but… I'd had it once before, and oh God did I want it again.

But it had only been just over a month, and that was far too soon, especially if he'd never… delved into that territory before. I'd have to discuss it with him first, of course I would. He probably wouldn't want to do anything, but it was still worth a try. It was definitely worth a try.

Naruto waved a hand in front of my face and I blinked, suddenly coming back to my senses.

"Sorry?"

He frowned at me and repeated, "Do you have anything to eat? I'm starved."

I nodded absently. "Yeah there's some stuff in… in the cupboard."

God, what was _wrong_ with me?

"You okay?"

No. "Fine."

He looked at me sceptically. "Really?"

"Yes, really, now stop depriving yourself." Oh, if only he took that the way I secretly wanted him to.

"Okay, okay. Got any ramen?" he called over his shoulder as he made his way into the kitchen.

I shook my head then realised he couldn't see it. "No, but we should. You're here enough."

I sighed and pushed my palm to my forehead, frustrated with myself. I'd been an expert at blocking all this crap out until today, and God only knew why today of all days I started failing. It wasn't that today was an especially bad choice, it's just that it was so random to all come crashing down on me suddenly that it was just plain confusing.

And Naruto, bless his oblivious soul, wasn't helping me either.

He was making all sorts of noises as he rummaged around in cupboards, giving a rather throaty groan when he found that we really didn't have any ramen. He cried out his disappointment to me but I didn't bother answering. Then he gasped particularly loudly and ducked his head around the corner with a smirk that, in my current state, made him look incredibly sexy.

I raised an eyebrow at him as he giggled at me and disappeared, only to appear again a second later, wide grin in place.

"What…?"

He shrugged, still grinning. "Nothing, nothing. But… wow, I thought _I_ had issues."

Warning sirens went off in the back of my mind as I tried to figure out what he could be referring to. Drawing up several blanks in a row, my left eyebrow joined my right and I stared him down until he elaborated.

"How stressed to you get, man?"

I kept staring.

"I mean, I could understand if it was ramen, but do you really need that much? How long does it take you to get through all that? It's not a very good hiding spot, really. Back of the cupboard next to the fridge? Yeah, someone was bound to – Sasuke?"

I was up in a flash, pushing past him and hurrying into the kitchen. I didn't give a crap about my hormones taking over anymore, but I most certainly _did_ give a crap about him finding my chocolate stash. Oh no. Oh no no no. I shook my head, unable to form words to describe how I was feeling.

He gave me a concerned look as I widened my eyes at him in panic, scanning through all the items in the afore-mentioned cupboard. "Uh… you okay? What did I say?"

I cleared my throat and turned back to him as I said quietly. "You didn't eat any, did you?"

"Wha- uh – no…?"

I narrowed my eyes and he put his hands up in surrender. "No, I really didn't! I promise! I don't even like dark chocolate."

I breathed a little easier and cracked my neck just to loosen it. Not because I wanted to feel tough and tell myself I could live without chocolate. It was stiff…

But he'd found it. My secret defence. I was planning on having a cold shower and eating a truckload of chocolate once he left to get my mind off things, maybe even blow up a few aliens. But now he knew, and it seemed all the less… special?

I didn't know, but it was my stash and I liked it that way. Not even Itachi knew it was there. At least I didn't think he did.

Naruto smirked at me and suddenly brought his hand up in front of his face, a small chocolate bar in it.

"Do they really mean that much to you though?"

I went into panic overdrive and lunged for it, not trusting him in the slightest. The bastard would eat it just to watch me squirm.

"Naruto," I said warningly as he held the chocolate further away from me. "Put it back."

He waved it still further away, just asking me to make a grab for it again.

"Now."

He shook his head and laughed, stepping backwards to match every one of my steps forwards. Soon his back came into contact with the kitchen sink and he stopped with a mischievous smile, dropping the chocolate onto the bench behind him and reaching out with lightning speed to wrap his arms around my waist and pull me close.

Oh God no. Not now. Any time but now.

I made a half-arsed attempt at pushing him away, but he just laughed quietly and buried his face into my neck, kissing me softly.

"Naruto, now's not really a good time. Itachi's here."

"So? He's been before." He reinforced his point by kissing up to my earlobe and nibbling lightly. I tried not to make my shiver too obvious.

"Yeah but we stopped." Another held back shiver. "And… it's not just that. Really, today is _not good_."

He lifted his face up incredibly close to mine and breathed against my lips. "Why not?"

I pushed him away the best I could while he maintained a determined grip on my waist and said forcefully, "Because I've been having dreams about you every night for the past week and I swear my hormones are so crazy that if you don't stop right now I'm going to have my way with you whether you like it or not."

Bluntness really was the only way to get through to this kid.

He loosened his grip on me instantly, looking almost frightened but for the most part surprised, and I stepped back with a sigh.

"Thank you, now if you're not actually going to do work I suggest you leave. For your own sake."

He lifted an eyebrow but stepped out of my way timidly, a blush making itself known along his cheeks. I felt horrible, really, but it was better for him if I put a stop to it. He didn't need someone else taking advantage of him.

"Just take my assignment and look through it, but you forget it tomorrow and you die."

He laughed despite the awkward situation and nodded with a wave of his hand. "Yeah, yeah, I'll bring it."

There was an odd silence as he opened the door after gathering my work up and slipping on his shoes. I leaned against the wall next to the kitchen with my arms folded and a blank look, not knowing which emotion to show. I was frustrated, apologetic, angry and ashamed all at once. And a little proud that I'd stopped him, couldn't forget the pride.

Naruto looked at me sort of sideways as he turned to step out the door and threw a barely audible, "Thanks, teme," over his shoulder.

Once the door was snapped shut I sighed and hit my head on the wall.

I was going to have to do something about this.

**-dividers won't work- -this is a line- **

Oh no, not again. I couldn't be late _again_. I'd only had one late for history all year – I couldn't afford another one!

I flew down the ramp and launched myself into the classroom, breathing out a, "Sorry I'm late, sensei!" and a very sloppy bow before throwing myself into the nearest seat, noticing absently that Sakura wasn't here again – she wasn't here to give me that oh-you're-going-_down_ look.

Ibiki-sensei glared evenly at me and I kept my face blank out of practice. I was getting better at dealing with him.

"That's twice, Uchiha. It happens again and you've got yourself an after school."

I nodded, and couldn't help thinking I'd gotten off lightly. Maybe he was in a good mood for once. He resumed the lesson like nothing happened and I ignored Shikamaru's snort from beside me.

"That was lucky," he whispered.

I nodded and put my head down on the desk, regaining my breath. I felt eyes on me after a moment and looked up, searching around the room until I found the source.

Huh, maybe Neji was right.

Maybe Haku 'so wanted me' after all.

I smirked at the pretty boy across the room and laughed on the inside as he narrowed his eyes angrily before snapping them back to the front and ignoring me entirely.

Hah, sucker. He was still cut about being owned by me.

And then the worst thing that ever could have happened in this class happened.

I'd forgotten to turn my mobile off. Someone who wanted me dead rang me. I got ripped into for quite a lengthy amount of time about classroom and mobile phone etiquette before being sent out for the remainder of the lesson.

I sat down heavily on the ground outside the class and sighed into my hands, getting the feeling that today was going to suck no matter what. I pulled out my phone from my pocket after triple-checking that there were definitely no teachers in sight and that Ibiki-sensei was tooabsorbed in teaching the class to pay attention to what I was doing just outside (he could probably see through doors, the psycho).

It was Sakura.

I called her back immediately, a little worried despite myself.

It rang several times before she answered, and when she did she sounded extremely confused. "Sasuke? Aren't you in class?"

I scowled. "Well I _was_ until _someone_ rang and got me kicked out."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed loudly. "I thought it would be off and I was just going to leave a voice message for you to get at lunch because a couple of my buttons are screwed and I can't text."

I rolled my eyes. "You knew I had history first."

"Yeah but I thought you'd be smart enough to turn it off!"

"I was late and forgot."

"Ooh… Is Ibiki-sensei sick?"

"No…?"

"Then why are you still alive?"

I laughed quietly. "Because of my awesome Uchiha powers. What'd you ring for?"

She was silent for a moment before saying, "Oh! Sorry, forgot for a sec there. I was just going to ask you to tell Iruka-sensei I'd give him the assignment tomorrow, and to ask you to get maths, history and English work for me."

"Well I can't get history work for you now, can I?"

She huffed down the slightly crackly line. "Well it's not my fault you're a dumbarse and left your phone on."

"Yeah, yeah, you win. I'll get all the other stuff for you though. Can I drop it off after school?"

"Yeah, should be fine."

"So why aren't you here if you're not contagious?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Well yeah wait no. No, no I don't." Did I need to know about girl problems? No.

She cackled a little. "Didn't think so. Oh, remind me when you get here - I have something to tell you."

Just then the door handle twisted and I sped through a hushed, "Gotta go!" before snapping my phone shut and tucking it hurriedly into my pocket, the picture of innocence.

It was just Shikamaru though, scratching his stomach lazily as he said, "Sensei says get your sorry arse back inside and sit in the back corner to do your work. No talking. Sucker."

**-dividers won't work- -this is a line- -CHAPTER END-**

My inspiration seems to be failing. Especially in this last section. My bad. All I can say is that it leads on to the next chapter. You'll see next week. Blah.

Just a warning... Updates MAY slow down somewhat and happen every week and a half/two weeks. I'm sorry! I've just hit a total wall in chap 12, but hopefully I'll be helped out of it soon by the wonderful Seirai-chan (at least I think that's it... I can't remember your penname, only your real name :P).

I'll try my best, though!


	11. Stubborn Bastards

I so don't know where I'm going with this. Well, I sort of do, but the lead up is so… o.O

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

11. STUBBORN BASTARDS

I sat down on a large… pink cushion, sinking in like it was quicksand.

Sakura settled herself on her bed with a nice block of chocolate and threw a couple of pieces to me. See? She understands.

"Thanks for all the work… I think."

I shrugged. "They were my classes anyway, it wasn't any trouble."

"Well thanks anyway," she said, taking a mouthful of chocolate.

"No problem."

I eyed my own chocolate warily for a moment before eating it, unsure what milk chocolate tasted like anymore. I had a vague memory of chocolate and something to do with Itachi that I have a feeling I'd blocked out on purpose, and I'd tended to steer clear of it since then.

Sakura was watching me carefully and said slowly, "It's just chocolate, Sasuke…"

"That's precisely the point."

She quirked an eyebrow at me. "And…?"

"Have you got any dark chocolate?"

She rolled her eyes, huffed and heaved herself off her bed before disappearing out into the hall mumbling something about ungrateful picky bastards who couldn't just accept what they were given.

Well sor-ry.

When she returned and threw me a couple of bars of wonderful, rich, dark chocolate, I smiled contentedly and reminded her that she had something to tell me. She made a realisation face and tucked her feet under her, reaching out and hugging the nearest pillow.

"Yeah…"

"What's it about?" I tried not to sound _too_ concerned, but she'd already seen my apparently nice side, so I figured there wasn't much point covering it up.

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before answering. "I can't believe I forgot to talk to you about this, but every time I remembered it was either a totally stupid time or we were both really busy with something. Or I was having a deep and meaningful conversation with your brother about doors."

I nodded in understanding and said sincerely, "Yes, yes, that can happen quite often."

She smiled a little and continued. "Well you know that whole thing with me being a sook in your metalwork class?"

"You weren't being a sook," I scolded.

She shrugged with another tiny smile. "Yeah, yeah, I was and I know it. But anyway, I went to see Tsunade, just like you said to, and I thought she'd listen to me, you know? Us having worked together at the hospital sometimes during busy periods and all that, but she didn't. She got really angry at me and sent me out straight away. I thought she already knew all about it, though, but apparently the hospital hadn't bothered to tell her. But really, wouldn't she have heard something on the wind?"

She sighed heavily and I drew my eyebrows together, trying to sort out my thoughts.

Either Tsunade was extremely out of touch with the hospital because she was just a casual, or she was really, _really_ blind. If Sakura had talked to her, that made it three complaints, including mine and Naruto's. Four if you counted Shizune going off tap. Yet she still didn't do anything? She must've had a reason, no matter how downright stupid, for keeping those three in the school.

Maybe Orochimaru was blackmailing her, or Jiraiya was pressuring her. Or she really was just incredibly stubborn.

Because she knew, she definitely knew they weren't fit for the school environment, yet there they stayed, apparently teaching in between threatening children's lives or trying to rape them.

I snorted despite myself.

Oh yes, she was stubborn.

"Well at least you said something. She can't ignore a potential murderer."

Sakura shrugged and hugged her pillow tighter. "Yeah, but she seemed so… _crazy_. She looked really pissed off that I'd even told her about it, when normally she would've gone right off at whoever was causing the trouble."

I nodded thoughtfully. "Something's going on, obviously."

She nodded. "Are Sasori, Deidara and Orochimaru the only ones from that group your brother's in?"

"Yeah, and they've all got something crazy connected with them. Orochimaru's go this fetish for kids, Sasori tries to kill kids, and Deidara threatens to kill them. Great choice of teachers, I must say."

Sakura snorted and threw the pillow to the side, leaning back on her arms and staring at the roof. "So that is what happened with Orochimaru, then?"

I paused a moment, realising we hadn't actually talked about it, and was about to answer when she cut me off with a smile. "Don't worry, I don't want to know. You've probably had to explain it to heaps of other people or make up some bullshit story, but its okay. I get it. I just hope you punched his face in."

I found myself incredibly grateful for Sakura's friendship right then, and was thanking whatever Gods there were that she'd given up being my stalker and chased Naruto instead, otherwise we probably never would have been as close as we were now.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

Speaking of Naruto, actually… That reminded me of something.

"Hey, Sakura?"

She was looking at the roof again, lying on her back now. I was still sitting in pink quicksand.

"Hmm?"

I struggled to find the right way to phrase the question, and chose my words carefully. "When you were with Naruto… and you did – stuff, together…"

I didn't have to see her face to know she was trying her utmost to hold back a cackle. I went on regardless. "Was there any like, talking, beforehand? Or did you just sort of just… just jump straight into it?"

And there she went, right off her nut, cackling away at me like a mad witch. She sat up to look at my incredibly offended expression, but that only made her laugh even more. Stupid cow. Lovely cow, but really, didn't she know when seriousness was called for?

"Oh, man," she said in between breaths. "You really… _really_ want to get – get in his pants… don't you?"

I scowled and opened my mouth to give her a decent talking to about why it was okay for me to want to do that and that there was no reason to laugh, because it was an entirely serious matter and I had someone else to consider for once, so could she kindly shut up and think about it, but she held up a hand to stop me, shaking her head.

"Don't worry, I – I understand." There was a brief pause while she took a couple of deep breaths and accidentally let another tiny giggle escape before composing herself. "Okay, okay, I get it, sorry… It was the way you asked, really."

I scowled further, feeling like the younger sibling being shunned by the older. "And what was so funny about that?"

"It was _so_ not Sasuke enough."

"Oh? And what is Sasuke enough?"

She grinned a little before shaping her face into a scowl to mirror mine, and said in a deeper voice, "How do I get the stupid dobe into bed with me?"

I scoffed. "I am _not_ that blunt!"

"Pfft. 'Sif you aren't."

"'Sif I am!"

She rolled her eyes with a smile. "Okay, you're not, whatever – you win. But still, you could've just straight out asked me. And no, to answer your question, it all sort of just… happened. Spur of the moment."

I nodded slowly, resting my chin in my hands. "'Cos I've been thinking –"

"Clearly."

"- and I don't want to scare him, but… I don't want to leave without… without having _done_ anything, you know?"

She gave me an unreadable look. "Still going, then?"

"Yeah," I answered, a little defensive. Everyone kept double-checking with me, like they didn't believe it was actually going to happen. Of course it was! There was no way I was passing this opportunity up. Absolutely no way.

She sighed sadly and nodded. "Okay… well for starters, don't pressure him. That's the worst thing you can do." Der, I already know that, more than you do. "But it'll happen. He wants to as well, he's just scared."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and partly disbelief. "He – he said that? You guys talked about it? When?"

She shrugged and said in a roundabout way, "Oh… you know… sometime…"

I glared at her, but in a very half-arsed way, I'll admit. "'Sometime' as in when?"

She huffed. "Just some random time not that long ago, okay? I don't remember specific things like that."

"Yes you do."

"Shut up!"

I could've kept an argument going with her, but I really couldn't be bothered. I had other things to think about now, you see, and I'd be very surprised if my imagination didn't take an even more extreme turn while I was sleeping now because of it.

Not that I'm complaining, of course.

* * *

"You know the drill everyone, out you go. Uchiha and Uzumaki, stay here."

Oh God. He was back? What about Shizune? Didn't she rip into him and then into Tsunade? Yet he was _still_ here?

I gave Naruto a look mixed with surprise and horror and he returned it tenfold. Oh yes, he was definitely here.

Orochimaru fixed us with an incredibly smug look that just oozed pervertedness.

I settled for folding my arms and glaring back at him full force as the rest of the students filtered out, people shouting over the top of each other and reaching out to the others in their group and standing on feet and swearing and laughing and oh how I wanted to be a part of that.

But no, instead I was stuck in a large, dimly lit room with my boyfriend and a complete freak who liked doing inappropriate things to both of us.

Yes, life was laughing at me somewhere.

Orochimaru took a couple of steps towards us once the door had snapped shut, and I saw Kabuto appear out of the shadows to look it before disappearing again.

"Now, boys, I know you must be angry about what happened last week, but why don't we put it all behind us, hm?"

We both snorted in unison. Like that was going to happen.

Orochimaru frowned. "It's not like you can do anything about it, anyway."

I raised an eyebrow as Naruto clenched his jaw.

"But I must say, if you're intending on getting other teachers to help you, I suggest you tell them to make it less obvious that they're watching me. Honestly, Ituka is hopeless."

Naruto turned to me with a surprised look as I scowled and clenched gripped my arms tight.

"Eh?"

I shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Orochimaru smirked. "Oh I think you do."

"So do I."

I turned to Naruto and tried to convey as much meaning into my eyes as possible, trying desperately to tell him to shut the hell up.

"I really don't. Shall we get on with the lesson?"

Orochimaru shook his head and took another couple of steps towards us. We stood our ground, though Naruto was still looking at me a little strangely. "No, we're not doing anything until you admit that you can't win."

I clenched my jaw defiantly, saying nothing. Naruto coughed awkwardly beside me.

"We'll sit here the whole lesson."

"That suits me perfectly fine."

"You can't win, Uchiha."

"Pfft. As if I can't."

"But think about it rationally. I have money, I have power, I have the complete faith of the principal and her husband, I'm getting great results from all my students so far, and you are a mere student not worth listening to, with a boyfriend who just likes to tell lies. Who do you think has the upper hand?"

"It doesn't matter who has the upper hand, you bastard. I'll get you out of this damn school and away from Naruto and I don't care how I do it. It won't be too hard. Your little minions aren't exactly angels either, you know. One of them tried to kill my friend and the blonde bitch threatened my other friend. They're not really helping you."

Orochimaru simply laughed and spun on his heel, hair swishing out behind him, and sat down on the chair in the centre of the room that I would be using for the play and that Kabuto must have put out in his mysterious shadowy way.

"I don't care what Sasori and Deidara do. They can get fired, quit the company, even drop dead and I still wouldn't care. It doesn't affect me. I've distanced myself from them so much that nothing they do can be held against me. Once again, you can't win. I will stay at this school, you will participate in this play, and I will continue to do as I so please without any restraint. Do you understand me?"

I growled low in my throat as Naruto put a hand on my arm lightly, calming me down.

Orochimaru smiled sickeningly at us and tilted his head to the side as he cooed, "Oh aren't you both so sweet? Pity neither of you are so gentle with me."

That's it.

The fucker was going down.

I made to lunge at him but found myself held back strongly by Naruto, his arms around my waist gripping tightly.

"Sasuke, let it go. Let him have his fun. He can't touch either of us while we're both in here 'cos he knows he'll get his face smashed in and his balls ripped off, so just let it go."

I growled again and said through clenched teeth, "If I don't hit him now I'm going to get him later."

"And get suspended for hitting a teacher? Make those rumours from last time true?" Orochimaru laughed, throwing his head back. "For once your stupid boyfriend has it right, Uchiha. Best to stay away from me."

I employed the use of several extremely colourful curse words in my head, even using some that I wasn't sure existed, but cracked my neck loudly and took a deep breath. Naruto let go of me slowly, making sure I wouldn't suddenly run again.

"I don't care what logic says. You don't even deserve to be alive."

"Well, that's your opinion and I have mine, so let's get started, shall we? I think I've made my point clear enough."

Oh yes, one day I'm going to kill him.

And from the look on Naruto's face, he was too.

* * *

"I've been thinking."

"Now there's something you don't hear every day."

He smacked me. "Shut up. It's for your benefit, you know."

I raised an eyebrow. "You thinking can hardly be for anyone's benefit, not even your own."

He smacked me again, harder this time. "I said shut up."

"Sorry, sorry. Do continue."

He nodded in appreciation and looked like he was about to say something when he suddenly got a mildly fearful expression and sat up a little awkwardly even though he'd only just joined me.

"Wait, first… umm…"

I put a hand on his shoulder in question, my brow furrowing.

"Uh, you're not – am I – are – you're not gonna jump me are you?"

I raised an eyebrow and bit back a snort, but was unable to hide the sudden grin.

He glared at me the best he could before changing tactics and turning it into a pout. "I'm being serious, teme. God, the way you were last time… sheesh."

I rolled my eyes at him, the picture of cool on the outside while on the inside I was feeling incredibly guilty. Yes, don't look so surprised.

"I'm not going to jump you. I'm sorry, but you really weren't helping yourself before, you know."

He shrugged. "Yeah but I found that out _afterwards_. You coulda warned me earlier."

"Sorry, next time I'll be sure to let you know when my hormones are taking control and you're being particularly suggestive."

He nodded, deciding the matter was closed. "Thank you." He wriggled a bit and got comfortable against my shoulder as the television flashed some ridiculously unbelievable action movie at us. "Anyway, as I said before, I've been thinking."

"Mm?"

"Well, you know how you're leaving and all?"

No I don't know, please enlighten me. Fool. "Yes."

He took several breaths and I readied myself for one of those infamous Naruto rants, the kind that involved absolutely no punctuation and a lung capacity that only the crazy blonde possessed.

"Well I figured that considering you've only got like less than two months before you go I'd try and make a list of all the reasons you should stay and there's _heaps_ of them! For starters all your friends are here –"

"Naruto." I wasn't letting this rant go anywhere. I couldn't.

He looked up at me awkwardly due to the sharp angle. "Eh?"

"Don't try and make me stay, please. It won't work."

"But –"

"I've made up my mind."

"But…" He scrounged around for some excuse, picking out the first one he thought of. "Wellington College has a terrible uniform…"

I snorted and smiled despite my annoyance at him. "That's all you can think about?"

"Have you _seen_ it?"

I grimaced. "Yep."

"And you're still going?"

"As if that'd be the deciding factor."

"I dunno… It's pretty bad…"

I wrinkled my nose down at him and didn't bother saying anything. We both knew yellow and black did _not_ go together.

"Well what about Itachi?"

"… I know."

"Sakura and Shikamaru as well."

"Yes."

"And me?"

I winced. I was hoping he wouldn't go there. "Yes, Naruto… You too."

He paused a moment, thinking it over, before continuing. "You know you won't make friends there, right?"

"Why?"

"Because you're a shit socialiser."

"And you're a shit persuader." I tapped him on the chin and brought his face up so that I could look him directly in the eye for more affect. "Look, I'm going and that's that. It's all organised anyway. Itachi's going to live with Kisame, I'm moving to New Zealand and in a few years I'll be the owner of the company. I'm not staying. I can't stay."

He scowled up at me. "Stubborn bastard."

"Yes, yes I am."

But a little bit of me twisted in my stomach and I shifted uncomfortably, dropping Naruto's chin and tightening my arms around his waist. The only things I would regret were leaving Itachi and cutting my time with Naruto short.

The doorbell rang loudly over the noise of the television and I jumped slightly. Who the hell was visiting now? The only people who really came around were Naruto, Gaara and Kisame, and Gaara hadn't been around in God knows how long.

"Sasuke!" Itachi called out from his room. "Can you get that? I've got my hands full."

"Yeah." I didn't want to ask what with. I might not have liked the answer.

Naruto flicked the television off and heaved himself off the chair so I could get up to answer it, and started heading down the hall.

"I'm taking a shower," he called over his shoulder.

"Why?"

"Jiraiya's taking me somewhere tonight and he said I have to look nice. Dunno where, but I might as well have a shower while I'm here."

I rolled my eyes. "You don't have your own?"

"Yes, but I have a pervert in my house."

I winced. He always spoke about it so casually.

I looked down as Same wound himself between my legs and generally made it a feat in itself to put one foot in front of the other.

"Do you _have_ to do that?"

"What?" came Naurto's answering shout from the bathroom.

"Talking to the cat."

I heard that snort. I narrowed my eyes down at the grey fluff ball and nudged him away with my foot as the doorbell rang again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

I growled in frustration as Same came slinking back after I'd taken a minimum of three steps, so I picked him up despite his mewling protests and tucked him under my arm.

I smirked at him and said, "Ha, I win," as I reached a hand out to open the door.

When I saw who was standing there, I was a little surprised, to say the least.

Well, seeing Shisui on my doorstep with his arms folded casually and dressed in simple yet obviously expensive clothes definitely wasn't something I'd taken into account today.

* * *

Want to know what happened to my inspiration this chapter? Kagrra, and the GazettE happened. They're taking over my damn life, and it's not good. Actually, it's wonderful, but not when it comes to writing.

Good news! Chapter 12 is a lot better! Not that that's hard, but you get it.

-bows- I apologise profusely for this one's absolute crappiness. I _know_ it sucked.


	12. Old Friends and Agonising

This chapter was originally posted on the 7th of July, but for an unknown reason, it wasn't registering as an update. Sorry for any inconvenience.

--

Well you see, it came back, that good old thing called Inspiration, but then it ran off again somewhere in the middle for a little while. It wasn't really there towards the end, but I do believe it's coming back yet again. I don't know if it'll stick around – depends on what happens, but I hope it does.

Hm…

I apologise for the late update - holidays can really screw around with a person's perception of which day is which. I honestly thought today (Tuesday) was Sunday.

**Previous disclaimers apply**.

* * *

12. OLD FRIENDS AND AGONISING

The first thought that went through my head was something along the lines of, _Well shit, would you look at that._

I dropped Same in surprise.

Then reality caught up with me and a million reasons why this was oh so very bad came crashing into my poor overworked brain at once and caused a sudden headache. I was unable to do anything other than gape as Naruto's singing from the bathroom wafted down the hall rudely, and I was just _waiting_for Itachi to come bursting out of his room, eyes bright and angry, and shout at the top of his lungs for Naruto to shut the hell up because his voice _sucked_, damnit!

Shisui just stood there without a care in the world while I counted down in my head.

3… 2… 1…

"Uzumaki! Shut the _hell_ up before I come in there and ram my fist down your throat and rip out your tongue so you can _never_ speak again!"

Oh yes, that was my brother.

Shisuionly raised an eyebrow slightly while I slowly lost any shred of control I had over the situation. Not that I really had any to begin with, but I liked to think I did.

The first words I spoke to him were hissed between my teeth forcefully, trying not to make enough noise to draw Itachi out of his room after he'd slammed the door on Naruto's singing – which had thankfully stopped.

"Get out."

Shisui's eyebrow went a little higher. "Why?"

"You have no idea what you're going to cause. Go away."

He shrugged his shoulders and smirked up at me in that typical Uchiha way that we all seemed to do at one time or another. "You could just close the door on me."

I snorted. "You won't go anywhere even if I do shut it. You're going to leave, and I'm going to watch you do it."

"Are you now?"

"Pick up your bags, turn around, and walk away."

I could feel a tiny bead of sweat forming on my brow and I resisted the need to wipe it away. This wasn't going to end well. Someone was going to either be stabbed, strangled, or broken in some way.

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

I dropped the cool look instantly as I heard Itachi grumbling loudly to himself in his room, and I looked behind me to make sure he wasn't there. "Seriously, Shisui, you can't come here. You know why, now please, just leave."

He shook his head firmly. "I have to talk with you, Sasuke, and I don't care if Itachi's here or not."

I narrowed my eyes. "You really don't know, do you?"

Shisuishrugged and unfolded his arms to shove his hands in his pockets, somehow managing to still look like the spoilt rich kid that he was. "I'm a little curious."

"Curious enough to be killed?"

He let out a quiet laugh and blew his fringe out of his eyes when it fell in the way. "I'm sure it's not that bad."

"He's nearly killed three people that I know of so far, not including himself. I'd say it's that bad."

Another typical Uchiha smirk as his eyes flickered over my shoulder and he nodded a greeting to oh God the world is going to end any second now.

My brother had snuck out of his room quietly to see who I was talking to, and I was getting ready to slam the door in Shisui's face and deny _everything_when a sudden ear-piercing squeal sounded from just down the hall and a large black blur shot past me, launching itself at Shisui in a tangle of limbs and hair.

"Shisui! I can't believe it's you! Oh my God, this is _amazing_!"

I blinked slowly, the colour draining from my face.

Well, this was new.

"How is everyone? What's been going on? Oh, I haven't seen you in _years_!"

I shook my head and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him away from our cousin and blinking rapidly. I tried to clear my head and make sense of the total mishmash of thoughts, but failed miserably.

"Okay, back up a second…" I looked from my brother to my cousin and back again. "What the _hell_ is going on?"

Itachishook my hand off his shoulder and gave me a strange look, pointing to Shisui and saying slowly, "He's our cousin, Sasuke. Cousin. Remember him?"

I made several spluttering noises before turning on my heel and rushing into my bedroom. This was too much, way too much for me to handle. I ran a hand through my hair and slammed my bedroom door shut, leaning against it and breathing deeply.

Itachi recognised Shisui. He remembered everyone else. He asked after them. That meant he remembered our parents as well.

I'm sorry, what?

I noted that the shower had been turned off and quickly yanked my door open, not even daring to check if Itachi and Shisui were still chatting at the door, and knocked on the bathroom twice to let Naruto I was coming in.

I opened it slowly, being regretfully polite and giving him the chance to wrap a towel around his waist or something before I barged in on him. I saw him through the steam, sadly wearing pants, but he still momentarily took my breath away, and it made it even worse when he grinned in his just-_eat_-me-already way.

If it wasn't such a crucial time I may have just let the memories of those dreams I'd been having run rampant again.

But it was indeed a crucial time, so I fought with them for a moment as Naruto kept grinningand said good naturedly, "Perving on me in the shower? Honestly, teme, I expected better of you."

I shook my head, forcing myself to concentrate at the task at hand and not Naruto, and slipped inside. I shut the door behind me and leaned against it just like in my room, and Naruto immediately noticed something was wrong.

He took a couple of steps towards me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Sasuke…? What's the matter? Who was it?"

I opened my mouth and closed it again a few times before saying quietly, "Shisui…"

Naruto gave me a confused look. "Who's that?"

"My cousin."

He kept up the confusion. "Your co- oh… oh… _oh_!" A hand flew up to cover his mouth in surprise as his eyes widened considerably and he gripped my shoulder painfully tight.

"The one from New Zealand? The one with Sharingan? That lives withyour parents? He's here? Now? With Itachi? Is –"

"_Yes_. God, can't you make your sentences longer than five words?"

It was Naruto's turn to make spluttering noises as he dropped his hand from my shoulder as well as the one covering his mouth and looked at me strangely. "This isn't a time to joke, Sasuke. Where's Itachi?"

I bit my lower lip and looked at the floor. "He's… with Shisui."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "And why is no one dead yet?"

I slid down the door to the cool tiles and crossed my legs beneath me, aware of yet more colour leaving my face as I stared at the wall opposite. Naruto crouched down in front of me, ducking his head a little so he could look me in the eye.

"Sasuke?"

I flicked my eyes over to him before staring blankly at the wall again and saying, "He remembered him. He asked how everyone was. He's… he's completely normal – apart from being excessively excited."

Naruto said nothing, seemingly as lost for words as I was.

He sat down on the tiles opposite me and looked at his hands before raising his eyes to mine again. "Does… does that mean that stopping the medication has worked?"

I shrugged and cursed quietly, suddenly frustrated at myself, at Itachi, at everything.

"It shouldn't. He's supposed to be rebalancing or some crap like that! He – he's supposed to have to readjust after the medication stops, not go straight back to freaking normal!"

Naruto made hushing sounds and reached out to touch my shoulder reassuringly. "It's all right, Sasuke, really. It's a good thing, isn't it?"

I looked up and glared at the roof angrily. "He thinks he _killed_them, okay? It's not all right – it's far from all right! They're all dead in his mind, especially our parents and Shisui. He always said Shisui was his first kill, and now he's in our house and they're talking like old friends. It's screwed up, that's what it is."

Naruto bit his lip as I fumed, breathing heavily as I clenched and unclenched my fists. What the hell was going on? His medication had stopped not even a week ago – he should be recovering. He should be readjusting. He should be going right back to strange outbursts and crazy mood swings and being the usual insane Itachi that I'd become unwillingly fond of.

I groaned into my hands as Naruto tugged me into his arms and rubbed my back in small circles.

"It's not that bad, you know."

I gave a tiny, weak laugh. "He could snap any second now, you realise. I could walk back out there to see Itachistanding over our cousin with a butcher's knife in his hand."

Naruto slapped me lightly. "Don't say that, that's awful!"

I shrugged and shifted to get more comfortable on the floor, turning sideways a little so I could fit against him better. "It's awful but it's true."

A deep sigh sounded through Naruto's chest and I couldn't help from reaching out to touch him lightly, running my fingers over the smooth, tanned skin and smiling a little when he twitched and squirmed.

"Teme…"

I lifted my head and looked at him innocently. "Hmm?"

He scowled. "Your hands are freezing and now isn't the time. Let me get dressed properly and sort my stuff out and you can go save Shisui. I'll get Itachi out of the house."

I looked at him gratefully. "Really?"

He nodded firmly and made to stand up but I held him back for a moment so that I could pull him into a quick kiss, our lips moving against each other softly with no intention of deepening any more before he pulled back and rested his forehead against mine.

"You okay?"

I gave a tiny nod. "Yeah… Probably just overreacting."

He grinned and I let him stand up this time, following as he grabbed my hand and pulled me up after him.

"Now go out there and I'll think of something to distract Itachi with."

I creased my brow in thought as I realised that if Itachi was currently 'normal' then he would see through absolutely _everything_Naruto was trying to do, judging by the way he was before the whole 'I'm gonna go crazy now' thing.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and searched through my contact list until I found the one I was looking for, and pressed Call before throwing it to Naruto. He cocked an eyebrow as he caught it without even looking and put it to his ear, turning to me.

"Kisame," I said, answering his unasked question.

He nodded in understanding and turned back to the mirror, reaching for the toothbrush he always used when he came around and giving me a meaningful look to shoo me out the door.

I smiled at him a little nervously, still trying to keep my thoughts and urges in check (come on, _you_ try when he's standing in front of _you_ dressed like that), and quickly slipped out the door.

Walking back down the hallway, I was surprised to see Shisui and Itachi still in a perfectly normal conversation about how the theatre was working out for Itachi while the kettle was slowly boiling over in the corner.

I leaned against the doorway to the kitchen and watched them anxiously, waiting for Itachi to come to his senses suddenly and realise that hang on a second, wasn't Shisui supposed to be _dead_?

I ground my teeth, waiting for the inevitable.

It never came.

The conversation moved from theatre to interests to my school, at which point I had to join in, and then we were talking the way we used to; making fun of each other, insulting one another at every available opportunity, and having a good laugh at the memories.

I noticed how our parents weren't mentioned once, not even in passing, and was silently thankful to Shisui for at least avoiding that topic.

Naruto came out to join us in the living room at some point, and I felt a small twinge of pride in being able to introduce him to Shisui as 'my boyfriend, Naruto'. I don't know why, but it made me feel calm and secure, knowing that Shisui would report back to my parents about my little act of defiance, and that my mother would have yet another hissy fit while my father flatly denied it.

It was comforting in the weirdest way to know that I was doing something I wanted, proving they weren't dictating my life as much as they thought they were.

Shisuigrinned suddenly after the introduction and ducked his head in greeting before giving me an amused look. "So this is the one you were agonising over while you came to stay with us?"

I pursed my lips and moved my head so I could see past Naruto, who'd plonked himself comfortably on my lap, and glared at my cousin. "I was _not_ agonising."

Shisui laughed and nodded, "Sure, sure," before turning to Naruto and saying off to the side, "He was agonising. Trust me."

Naruto nodded in complete seriousness and twisted to put a hand on my shoulder, making me glare at him. "I'm touched that you were thinking of me, Sasuke."

I grunted and threw his arm off me, punching him in the leg. "Yeah, shuddup."

A knock on the door brought all our heads to turn in its direction, and Naruto jumped off my lap to open it, already knowing who it would be.

"Hey, is Itachi here?" Kisame's low gravely voice sounded through to the lounge room from outside, and Itachi leapt off his seat, suddenly turning into a giddy schoolgirl as he so often did around the creepy shark boy.

"Kisame!"

Kisame stepped inside as Naruto let him in and closed the door behind him, and Itachi leapt into his boyfriend's arms, yapping away animatedly about Shisui. My brother directed the poor boy into the lounge room and pushed him down onto the couch, saying proudly, "Shisui, this is Kisame – _my_ boyfriend!"

Shisui simply raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement and I could see he was trying his utmost not to smile.

As Itachi turned back to Kisame and they started talking about something under their breaths, Shisui looked to me and said quietly, "Tōsan isn't going to be getting a grandson any time soon then?"

I snorted and Naruto smacked me on the back of the head, sitting on the arm of the chair as he scolded, "I've told you before, Sasuke darling, I will not bear children at such a young age. Can you at _least_ wait three more years until I'm ready? Can you do that for me?"

I rolled my eyes at his stupid put-on female voice that sounded disturbingly like Sakura, and Shisui laughed.

"Of course I can, Naruto. Anything for you."

He grinned stupidly and swooped down to kiss me on the forehead, and I couldn't help laughing a little bit. He was so… ridiculous.

Suddenly Itachi jumped up, yanking Kisame up after him and announcing loudly, "Kisame and I have to go!"

"Why?" Naruto asked innocently.

Itachi winked and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "There's a secret plot in the Akatsuki to kick Orochimaru out and we need to make plans."

Kisame shifted nervously from foot to foot. "Uh… Maybe you shouldn't have said that, 'Tachi."

My brother shrugged and waved his hand as he turned away from us and made his way to the door, clearly not caring. "Oh please, it's not like they're going to tell him."

Naruto and I shook our heads forcefully, definitely not about to be the ones breaking the news to Orochimaru that he wasn't as safe as he thought and could he please go find a job elsewhere?

Oh no, I think we can leave that up to Tobi and Pein, whoever they are.

Itachi nodded confidently and smiled at Shisui, almost saluting him as he walked out the door. "Nice to see you again, bro. Come back again sometime."

Shisuireturned the gesture with an Uchiha smirk and said, "Don't worry, I'll be around for a while."

* * *

"So… I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'm working."

Naruto huffed and folded his arms. "You're always bloody working."

"Well maybe you should get a job and stop mooching off your aunt and uncle for once."

He wrinkled his nose after a very brief pause for thought and shook his head. "No… no I don't think that'd work out for me. You can work to bring the money in and I'll concentrate on being the sexy beast I am."

I snorted and pushed him further out the door. "I'm sexy enough for the both of us, now go home."

He raised an eyebrow at me, and I knew exactly what he was asking for. I frowned and shook my head, not too comfortable with overdoing the Public Displays of Affection while Shisuiwas close by. He pouted but I was pretty much immune to it by now, just as he was to my death glares, and I shook my head again.

He narrowed his eyes.

I narrowed mine.

He pursed his lips.

I pursed mine.

Then he suddenly turned on his heel and made a show of swinging his hips as he walked down the path and out onto the street, raising his hand in fair well once he got to my letterbox.

I growled to myself in frustration and hurried after him, grabbing his arm and whipping him around so I could give him a bone-crushing hug. I silently thanked him for not letting me get too carried away with my freaking out, and he patted my back in a gesture that said 'no worries'.

He sighed into my neck, looping his arms around my waist, and I breathed in deeply. He smelled like… like Naruto. Naruto with a side of ramen.

I couldn't help but laugh to myself a little at that, thinking the boy must eat so much of it that it had somehow worked its way into his bloodstream and settled in all his pores. Seriously, it wouldn't have surprised me.

He lifted his head to give me a suspicious look. "What…?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, nothing."

He continued narrowing his eyes at me but eventually just shrugged when it was evident that I wasn't going to spill.

"So you're okay now? No more stressing over no big deal?"

I huffed. "It _was_ a big deal, okay? It could've gone wrong in a split second and we all would've been sorry."

He nodded and kissed me on the cheek lightly. "I know, I know. Sorry."

I sighed and closed my eyes, making tiny circles with my fingers on his lower back. "No, it's fine. I probably was a little worked up."

I heard his grin as he said, "But you wouldn't be the Sasuke we all know and don't really like very much if you didn't flip out over the little things and be a general drama queen."

I opened my eyes to scowl at him properly as he suddenly leant forwards and kissed me, taking me by surprise. His lips were only there for a fleeting second before he was gone and out of my arms, shouting, "Don't sweat it, teme!" as he waved over his shoulder.

I snorted. Yeah, easy for him to say.

I shook my head sadly at him and walked back into the house, closing the door quietly and jumping a little when Shisui said, "Quite the relationship you two have there."

I shrugged and made my way back to the lounge room, taking up my seat again. "I guess."

He smiled and sank down further into the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table now that it was just the two of us and no need to be polite. "How long have you been together?"

I thought for a moment. "I don't know – just over a month? Not very long."

"Feels like longer?"

I exhaled loudly and nodded. "Shit yeah."

Shisui laughed quietly and we lapsed into a semi-comfortable silence. It would have been perfectly comfortable if the impending doom of a conversation we knew we had to have soon wasn't looming over our heads.

Well, best not to drag it out.

I sat up straight and crossed my arms. "What does Tōsan want to talk to me about?"

Shisui chuckled lightly to himself and sighed, folding his hands over his stomach. "Straight to the point as always."

"Hn."

He sighed heavier and looked me straight in the eye as he said, "They want to know if you're definite about this. Well, Tōsan does – your mother says you'll come in your own time."

I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes. "Tell Tōsan I'm perfectly serious, thank you very much, and not to send you to do what he can't."

Shisui smirked. "Which is?"

"Face his son."

My cousin whistled in that way that said 'whoa, big words for a little kid'. "And what makes you think he can't?"

I snorted. "Okay, he sends letters ordering me around and saying what he expects of me because he doesn't have the balls to call me and he's afraid that I'm going to back down, based on the fact that I haven't answered any letters – though he'd never admit it. He knows we have no connection whatsoever and that you and I do, so he sends you along to make sure I'm still all right with this and to convince me to stick with it if I'm pulling out.

"Right now Kā-san's probably yelling at him in her mind but is too afraid to say it out loud because he's pacing the house angrily and cursing me in all a manner of ways and languages because he has no faith in me _or_ you. Sound about right?"

Shisui paused a moment, as if in thought, before saying, "Nope, you're forgetting something."

I faltered a second in surprise, then remembered. "And he's too afraid of seeing Itachi again because on the inside he's a coward."

My cousin smirked in a true Uchiha fashion and saluted me. "Well said, my friend. Well said."

I shrugged and leant back in my chair, moving to chew on my thumbnail anxiously before catching myself out just in time. Of course Tōsan would send Shisui. I was obviously more responsive to Shisui, and this way he wouldn't haveto deal with whatever shit Itachi started – perfect.

"So…?"

I raised an eyebrow at Shisui. "What?"

"Still leaving?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Yes."

He nodded slowly and rolled his eyes back to look at the roof, twiddling his thumbs in a very non-Uchiha way. "It'll be hard."

"No shit."

"You'll see a lot of crazy stuff you'll probably wish you hadn't."

"I know."

"You'll be responsible for a lot of issues. Everyone will come running to you."

"Are you supposed to be convincing me to stick with it or back down? I'm confused."

He laughed and shook his head, still not looking down at me. "Sorry, I just… I know what it's like, you know, and I don't want you to think it's going to be some cushy job involving a lot of money and no effort. You're involved in some crazy stuff when you run Sharingan. I want you to understand that."

I sighed. "I know, Shisui, I know. I've been thinking it over carefully, and while it's going to suck leaving people behind and freaking out about how Itachi's going to cope, I know I have to do it."

He groaned and lifted his head to glare at me before plopping it back down on the back of the couch and resuming his examination of our somewhat cracked ceiling.

"I thought you were over all that 'I must be better than him' crap."

I frowned. "It's not about that."

"Then what's it about? Why are you doing it?"

"Because I want to."

"No, no you don't."

I huffed and pulled the ultimate Sakura on him. I folded my arms, narrowed my eyes, glared – the works.

"I _do_want to do this, believe it or not, and I will not back down. No matter what's going on here, I'm leaving and that's that. I don't care if you don't want me to run Sharingan – it's going to happen. I'll get trained up and that'll be it. You'll be answering to me. So don't you tell me what I do and don't want because you_ really_ don't understand anything."

I was going to finish it off with a swish of my hair, but figured that might be too much.

Shisui raised his head and pulled his feet off the coffee table, sitting up straight and looking directly into my eyes as he put on his most business-like face. I'd never seen him look so grown up. It was like Itachi in his motherly mode.

"Listen, Sasuke, I don't want you getting into something _you_don't understand. You're going to be leaving everyone – your brother, your boyfriend, your whole life – behind, and it's going to hurt. You're not coming back. You need to get over whatever stupid obsession you haveabout being better than your brother because it doesn't matter anymore. Itachi's a completely different person – there's no one to compete with. You can do whatever you want now, so don't think you have to please your father and jump at the first opportunity to do so. I can see you don't want to do this by the way you said goodbye to Narutoand how protective you are over Itachi. You're happy here, so stop trying to kid yourself."

I said nothing for a moment, the truth of his short, blunt speech slowly settling in. So few words had so much meaning. But I couldn't listen to him – I couldn't. He didn't know what he was saying. He didn't understand the situation, despite what he said.

I growled in the back of my throat as I pushed myself off the chair and stalked into my room.

"If you're staying in town you're not welcome here," I threw behind me before slamming my door.

The bastard could fend for himself for all I cared.

* * *

I closed my eyes tight and willed myself to go to sleep.

I failed.

After two hours of this I was fed up to say the least. I'd managed to sleep for a little while, but now that I'd woken up at God knows what time, there was no hope for me.

I'd been staring at the all too familiar cracks on the ceiling, running in random directions and splitting off each other like veins. I could even see the damn things in the dark, that's how much time I spent looking at them and memorising them.

I groaned loudly and rolled onto my side, only to come face to face with one of the only photos I had in my room. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the image of me and my brother standing next to each other with stupid grins and moved to put the picture face down on the bedside table, but found my hand stopping halfway across.

Bleh, too much effort.

… Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, kid.

I splayed my fingers out in front of my face and frowned deeply at them while I told myself off in my mind.

I was actually listening to Shisui, and it wasn't in a good way. He was sent to make sure I was still up for the position and to convince me if I wasn't, but instead he tells me not to take it and insists that I shouldn't.

Why?

My first thought was because he wanted Sharingan for himself, but I knew that Shisui wasn't like my brother in that respect. If he wanted something but it was given to someone else for the right reasons, he let them have it, just like he would let me have Sharingan. Then I thought that my mother had talked to him and convinced him to make me back down without my father knowing, but realised that was stupid too. Kā-san wanted what was best for me, apparently, despite her arguments against uprooting me from my home so early, and so would want me to take over as well.

So that meant he was trying to stop me of his own accord and with no motives other than to help me.

I snorted.

Voluntarily helping someone with no benefit to oneself is not usually the way Uchiha's do things.

But… why else would Shisui be saying all that stuff? He'd managed to narrow down the whole situation into a few sentences and throw it back at me for examination after pointing out all the holes.

And damn it all, I was _listening_ to him.

I'd been battling withthe other half (well, maybe only an eighth) of myself since I found out I was leaving, trying to convince it to join the rest of me in the want to go, but it wouldn't be swayed. There was still a part of me that was firmly stuck in Japan, with Itachi, Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru, and like hell it was going anywhere any time soon now that Shisui had gotten to me.

That tiny rebellious part had grown somewhat in the last twelve hours or so, and it wasn't going to shrink again.

But how could I even_ think_about passing up an opportunity like Sharingan? It was what I'd been working for my entire life, even when I thought it was going to be Itachi's. I was determined to prove I was just as good as him, and I was still yet to do that in my father's eyes. No one else's opinions mattered except my father's, and all I needed to do to get him to appreciate me for who I was and what I could do was move to New Zealand and do what he says.

Not that hard, right?

Pfft. Incredibly hard, thank you very much. Especially now that I have a cousin on my tail telling me _not_ to go.

I growled to myself and ducked my head into my pillow, trying my utmost to clear my head.

That's it. I need Shikamaru and Sakuraand I need them – I checked the clock – in five hours.

Damn.

* * *

"Sasuke, its eight o'clock in the morning."

"I know."

"What kind of sane person is awake at this time on a Saturday morning?"

"Me."

"You're not sane."

"Thank you. Now get your butt over here."

"No."

"Yes."

"… I hate you."

"I know, hurry up."

The conversation with Sakura was much the same, but involved a lot more swearing and threatening. I just shrugged it off; I was used to it.

And so I spent the next half an hour pacing back and forthin my lounge room, stepping over Same as he whinged about being hungry. Stupid cat could wait – there were more important things to be dealt with.

When the knock finally came at the door I almost fell over myself and the damn cat trying to get to it. That's how desperate I was to unleash some stress on my unsuspecting friends. Ah, how cruel I am.

"Guys I'm going to have a breakdown!"

Nice way to start the morning for them, I'm sure. Nothing like a bit of a surprise to jolt them awake.

Sakura raised an eyebrow as Shikamaru just nodded in understanding and yawned, making sure I knew that he didn't appreciate being woken up so early for this. Oh I knew all right – I just didn't care.

"And why is that?" she asked, clearly not believing me.

Dammit.

I grunted softly to myself and pulled them inside, slamming the door behind them and steering them towards the couch. I still hadn't sat on it since _that_ time.

"Sasuke, what the _hell_is wrong with you?" Shikamaru twisted out of my reach and glared pathetically at me a moment before sitting heavily on the couch and looking at me expectantly.

"I told you I was going to have a break down."

Sakura snorted. "It sounds like you planned it."

I huffed and sat on the overly large armchair after Sakuragot comfortable, and tucked my feet underneathme, finally giving in and chewing on my thumbnail. I took a deep breathand a moment to organise my thoughts and figure out if I was just going to throw it all out there and let them pick it apart, or give it to them piece by piece slowly and let them make their own deductions. It probably wouldn't be hard to figure out once I got going, really.

My mind was in a frenzy and I couldn't quite make sense of where my thoughts were taking me. Shisui had set a ball rolling and like hell it was going to be stopped any time soon. Hopefully Sakura and Shikamaru would be able to help, because without my second and third conscience… well, I think that explains itself, really.

I'm fucked.

Sakura was furrowing her pink (yes, I know) eyebrows at me in worry, but I just shrugged at her unanswered question and continued chewing my thumbnail as I held up my free hand, telling her I just needed a minute.

I didn't miss the concerned look she gave Shikamaru, though.

Finally I growled to myself and Sakura tentatively asked, "Sasuke… are you sure you're okay?"

I shook my head.

"Then tell us," Shikamaru prompted. "You obviously didn't drag us out here so early for nothing."

I sighed and rubbed my temples, angry at myself for being so affected. I guess it was just proof that I wasn't entirely in it. I looked up at them both watching me cautiously, sitting awkwardly on the couch, and gave them a tiny smile before clearing my throat somewhat nervously.

"Uh… Shisui came to visit yesterday."

If the situation had been any different I probably would have laughed at the way their eyes simultaneously widened to the size of dinner plates.

"He what?!"

"Why?"

"What did he want?"

"Are you leaving earlier?"

"What did he say?"

"He doesn't want you to go."

I pointed to Shikamaru and clicked my teeth in a sound of confirmation.

"Got it in three."

He nodded slowly while Sakura flailed next to him, unsure of what to say or what to make of our exchange. She really could be a tad slow at times.

Shikamaru went on regardless. "And he tried to convince you."

I shrugged. Sakura looked from me to our pineapple-haired friend and back, still confused.

"He got you thinking."

I said nothing again. Trust the genius to figure it out in a couple of sentences.

"You're not sure where you stand anymore."

Sakurasuddenly made an 'oh!' sound in realisation in my silence and a hand shot to her mouth before pointing at me somewhat nervously.

"Y-You… staying? You think? May– ye– gah! Please?"

Shikamaru and I both raised our eyebrows simultaneously at her disjointed words and squeaky voice.

"That was supposed to be a sentence?"

She ignored my jibe and continued waving her arms around ridiculously in her realisation moment.

"But… But you're – what?!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes, nodding at Shikamaru and indicating for him to take over, seeing as though he obviously understood the situation more than our little pink friend and I wasn't up for voicing my thoughts just yet. It would feel too much like I was setting them in concrete, and I wasn't sure I was ready for that. Hell, I wasn't even sure how I felt.

See what I mean about being screwed without my second and third conscience?

Granted, Sakura wasn't a great deal of help at the moment, but she'd probably kick in later.

"Right, take a breath," Shikamaru ordered her.

She wriggled and whined, "But -!"

"Breathe."

She scowled but did as she was told, filling her lungs and exhaling slowly while successfully making a point of ignoring my smirk. Once satisfied that she was finally calm and collected, Shikamaru leant back on the couch and began explaining for me.

Where would I be without that kid?

"Shisui came to visit yesterday and told Sasuke that he should reconsider his decision to take up Sharingan. He must have said some important things because now Sasuke's finally considering staying and leaving the company to his cousin. Got it now?"

She raised an eyebrow at us each in turn and said in a motherly voice, "I understood perfectly well, thank you very much, I was just a little excited that at least _someone_ had finally managed to get it through his head that he belongs in Japan, not halfway across the world and down a little."

I shrugged and said nothing again, still waiting for them to come out with the goods and just tell me what the hell I was meant to be doing. I'd had enough of trying to make decisions by telling myself what I wanted, and figured it was about time someone else told me what I wanted. An outside perspective is always appreciated, and this situation was no different.

They seemed to get what I was waiting for, and Sakuracontinued her motherly voice as she clapped her hands on her knees and fixed me with a stern gaze.

"Right, first thing's first: thank freaking God for Shisui."

I raised an eyebrow at her but she just sighed sadly at me and went on.

"So he's convinced you? Or he's still in the process?"

I moved my hand in a way that indicated the latter, and she nodded thoughtfully.

"Mm… I see… Well, time to make a list!"

"A what now?"

She clapped her hands again and Shikamarugroaned, muttering something about women being so troublesome and annoying. She smacked him on the arm and shut him up with a scowl.

Temari had trained him well.

"We're making a list, stupid. A list of pros and cons. Reasons to stay and not to stay. Reasons for you to leave everything behind and to keep it all. Reasons to ditch us –"

"Yeah, I get it," I interrupted with a glare. She was getting a little too good at the guilt-tripping for my liking.

"Good. Shikamaru, get a –"

"I'll remember it."

She rolled her eyes and tucked her feet under her on the couch, and I realised with a sense of dread that if she was getting comfortable then we'd be here for a long time yet.

I smacked myself repeatedly in my mind.

Why did I have to have friends who cared?

Honestly, it just made things _really_ annoying. You try to make a decision and they talk you out of it, you think you're doing the right thing and they convince you you're doing the wrong, you get told off for being a bastard but when you change they keep saying they like the old you, you look a tiny bit stressed and they tackle you until you spill. Really, what good did that do?

But as Sakura ranted on and on and Shikamaru looked like he was seconds away from either falling asleep or dying of boredom, I realised that that was what I liked about them, and whatever they dished out they could take just as easily.

They were… Jeez, they were annoying as all hell, to put it bluntly.

But I guess that's what comes with having extra consciences.

Maybe I should learn to make my own decisions.

…

Pfft.

* * *

WOOT for Sei-rai-chan! She's my ideas girl right about now, so thank her for the next chapter. Which will be up in 2 weeks. Sorry, but I really need to take a step back and look over things in this story. I really should have made a plan... damn.

I don't even have chapter 13 written yet, but at least I know what I'm going to do, and I want to write a bit further ahead so I know for certain which way I'm going from here on.

Please be patient! Thanks for sticking with me so far! I'll see you in a couple of weeks, hopefully -crosses fingers-

WY


	13. Set In Motion

Thanks again to Seirai-chan. She's a legend. Bow down to her. Thank you XD.

I think things are falling into place now :) and sorry for the long wait – my internet was cut off and I just got it back.. Excuses excuses, I know, but I'm telling the truth! And I don't think they would have appreciated me hijacking one of the computers at work to update XP

There was this whooole screw up last time where I wasn't getting any alerts, hence the double (or triple?) post. I didn't get any review alerts or anything either, so that's why I haven't replied – it just made it a lot more difficult. All were read (once I figured it out) and very muchly appreciated. Thank you so much!

And now finally, we have chapter 13! Phew! I know it's a bit short, but there was no other place to cut it off.

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

13. SET IN MOTION

"Sasuke, you look stressed."

I grunted at my weapon-obsessed friend and shrugged. "I'm fine."

She grinned and sighed wistfully next to me, leaning back on her chair and putting an arm around my shoulders. "Aah, I know that sort of 'fine'. It's the sort of fine that I like to call _bullshit_."

I snorted despite myself and tucked my face further into my arm, blocking her out and trying to give her the hint that I didn't exactly want to talk right now. Being Tenten, she of course ignored it and squeezed my shoulder comfortingly.

"Whatever it is, love, I just want you to know…" Out of nowhere she was right in front of my face looking deadly serious. "You're a beautiful person, Sasuke."

I suddenly became mildly terrified.

I raised an eyebrow and said nothing, a mixture between wanting to laugh, punch her and tell her off for being so sappy overwhelming me and making me very confused.

Then the next second she was cackling away and commenting on how apparently hilarious my expression looked.

I scowled and turned my head the other way, muttering under my breath, "You've been hanging out with Lee _far_ too much."

She kept right on cackling and sat down on the chair next to me. "Come on you, what's been eating you up? You've been pretty much silent since Monday and quite frankly, it's pissing me off." She paused a second, probably to glare at me, but I didn't bother answering or even turning to face her again. "Hey, I'm talking to you."

Yes, I gathered that.

"Sasuke?"

Shh, your voice is annoying.

"Come on, what's the matter? People are worried about you. You've been avoiding Shikamaru and Sakura, been cold to Naruto, and Gaara's been talking to Hinata but neither of them can figure it out, so don't think no one's noticed. Even genius boy Neji doesn't know for once." She tapped me on the shoulder. "Come on, grumpy, tell all."

I took a deep breath, willing her out of my presence. Sadly, I failed. I finally turned to her when she kept tapping insistently on my shoulder, and forcefully grabbed her hand and pushed it away.

"Tenten, take the hint. I don't want to talk to you, or anyone else for that matter, so kindly piss off. I'd be very grateful."

She obviously couldn't take the hint, because within seconds she was back to poking me, and I was back to trying not to rip her head off.

"Don't be like that! Just tell me and –"

"For God's _sake_, Tenten! Get the hell away from me before I break something very personal to you!"

I slammed my hand down on the desk and gave her the death glare, which I had only done when I didn't know who she was. Since I'd befriended her, I'd never done it with any feeling behind it. That's why we were both so shocked, though I was the only one successful in hiding it. Tenten's eyes grew wide and she scooted away from me a little on the table, muttering a meek apology under her breath as the entire English class, minus the perverted Kakashi-sensei because he went 'out for a quick stroll to get some fresh air', looked on.

I didn't have to look to know that Naruto was frowning at me, and my suspicions were confirmed when he suddenly jumped into my line of sight and grabbed me by the arm, dragging me out of the chair.

"We're going to the bathroom," was the only explanation he gave an alarmed Tenten before he yanked me out of the room and slammed the door behind us.

I didn't bother resisting – I knew his strength by now – but that didn't mean I couldn't glare at the back of his head to my heart's content and curse him to all a manner of horrible places.

Once we were around the corner and near the lockers he spun around, still not letting go of my hand, and it would have been impossible for me to miss the angry flash in his eyes as he leaned in close to me.

"Right, what the _hell_ is wrong with you?"

"Naruto…" I whined, mumbling and trying half-heartedly to push him away.

"Don't get all whingey with me. I'm doing the right thing by looking out for you and making sure you don't beat anyone up."

I rolled my eyes and gave up trying to pry his hands away from my shirt. Honestly, I just couldn't be bothered.

I couldn't be bothered with the questions, explanations, decisions – anything. I was sick of trying to sort shit out with myself and having people freak when I got a little stressed.

I'd been tearing my hair out and losing sleep since Shisui had had his little talk with me, and in all seriousness, I just couldn't care less anymore. I'd barely spoken to anyone, but it wasn't like it was intentional; I'd just been too caught up in my own internal debate to pay attention to anything else around me. Of course, that led to me neglecting Naruto, constantly snapping at Itachi, refusing to let Shisui in the house (though that was for Itachi reasons also), being generally distant with friends and reverting back to my previous talk-to-me-without-my-permission-and-die self.

Oh, and I had a detention tomorrow after school because I was late to history yet again on Tuesday, thanks to being spaced out.

Not fun, I can assure you.

But when your cousin comes into your house spontaneously when you thought he was on the other side of the world, tells you to give up something you've been working for all your life and you actually start considering it, you can get a little confused.

I still didn't know what I was going to do, and I had just over a month to sort it out. Well, less, really. I probably only had about three weeks because I needed to allow time for arrangements to be finalised.

Three weeks to decide which way my life was going to go, because there was no backing out either way.

Friends, boyfriend, brother, and a whole list of possibilities. But there'd still be paedophiles, stupid-arse principals, and the risk of being cut-off from my parents, the known money supply.

Or else there was money, power, Sharingan and a clear-set path. Yet at the same time that still had its downsides – controlling parents, pressure, a cousin I wasn't sure I could trust.

Sakura had given me plenty of reasons to stay, but they were none I hadn't already thought of and dismissed as something I could get over in time, and Shikamaru had put forward a fair few in favour of me leaving. It wasn't that he _wanted_ me to leave, it was that he was trying to explain to me the gravity of the situation.

It was my _life_ I was deciding on here, and I couldn't just go with whatever looked good at the time.

I can tell you now, nothing helped. The amount of times I'd gone over this whole ordeal in my head, run through every possibility – you'd think I could've come up with something by now. But no, I was more confused than before. Thanks to freaking Shisui coming in and ruining all my built-up determination.

…Arse.

So you know what? I've had it with tough decisions.

Naruto suddenly lost his angry spark and let his eyes dull a little, replacing the previous fire with concern. He searched my face worriedly as he said, "Sasuke? You in there?"

And then I suddenly came to a conclusion.

I wouldn't decide. Simple as that.

I wouldn't force myself to choose now and live to regret it later. I'd take the pros and cons of both side, exactly what Sakura said to do, and I'd wait until the last possible moment to decide which way I leaned.

That was it. That was how it was going to happen.

Shit, that feels a lot better.

"…Teme? Hey, say something. You've gone all spacey on me."

I blinked slowly and shrugged his hands off my shirt, straightening it out and checking my watch.

"We've only got five minutes left of class. Do you want to head down to the gym now?"

He blanked at me for a second, blinking furiously and leaving his mouth hanging open, before shaking his head slowly. "Seriously, are you okay?"

I huffed and pushed past him, heading off in the direction of the gym. "Never better."

But I couldn't tell Naruto… could I? I wouldn't want to get his hopes up. But maybe he could help sway me to either side… No, that would be incredibly biased.

He hurried forwards to match my pace and looped an arm around my waist, forcing me to stop. "Sasuke, explain."

"Explain what?" I gave him a half-hearted glare. No… best not mention anything to him just yet. I had to sort it all out before I went blurting it.

I could see him getting a little pissed off as I debated in my mind, and he said, "Come on, you know what."

I sighed and tipped my head forwards to lean on his shoulder, breathing deeply. I was a little surprised when I felt him chuckle and bring a hand up to stroke my hair. It was soothing to feel his fingers running through the short hair at the back, but –

"Ew, my hair's gross. Don't touch it."

I tried to squirm away but couldn't move, and he only laughed more.

"I knew something was wrong."

I raised my eyebrow, but even though he couldn't see it he correctly interpreted my silence as a questionable one.

"You're so prissy about your hair, and if even I've noticed that you looked like shit the last few days, then something has _got_ to be wrong."

I mumbled a few curse words before saying, "You don't look so great yourself."

"Pfft, as if I don't."

"Shut up."

He chuckled again and let me go, ruffling my hair before letting his hand resume its position around my waist. "Sooo…?"

I shrugged, leaning into him as we started walking again… After fixing my hair. "I've just had a lot on my mind, that's all."

"Obviously. What's up?"

I groaned. "Everything."

"Such as…?"

"Shisui, Itachi, leaving, what's going to happen, you, Orochimaru and those other so-called 'teachers', I've got a freaking detention tomorrow – _everything_.

He sighed and tightened his grip on my waist briefly. "I told you not to worry about Orochimaru. Nothing can be done and that's that, so stop freaking about it, 'kay? It's not helping anyone."

I was silent for a moment in disbelief. Did he honestly believe that I would ever let something like that slide? I asked him but he just shrugged.

"I'm not expecting you to; I'm asking you to. I thought I could stand up to him, you know, thought if I fought back then he'd stay away. Remember when I decided I wouldn't take it anymore?"

I nodded, my mind briefly flicking back to just before Orochimaru had tried his 'magic' on me.

"Well it doesn't work that way, trust me. It's just causing more issues at home and it really sucks, so if we just leave it as it is then it'll all be fine."

"But –"

"Why are we even talking about me, anyway? You're the bitchy one."

I scowled and elbowed him in the ribs the best I could at such close proximity. "I am _not_ bitchy."

He grinned through a wince as he rubbed the spot where I'd just abused him. "Thanks for proving my point."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

"Hn."

"Go on."

"Bad choice of words, kiddo."

He raised his eyebrows. "What are you gonna do?"

I leaned forwards suddenly and kissed him hard, pulling back after a few seconds to see his eyes wide. "Shut you up, duh."

I didn't hear any complaints after that, no sir. There were a lot of other noises coming from him, but certainly none of complaint.

He gasped a little in surprise when I slammed him to the wall around the side of the gym, and whimpered just a bit when I gripped his hair, pushing our lips together. He groaned when my tongue touched his, and almost growled when I took control instantly. He made a tiny noise of distress when I broke away, but his breath made a hitching sound as I kissed and licked a trail down his neck.

But the best sound of all was when I slipped my fingers under his orange t-shirt and bit down just above his collarbone at the same time. That was an outright _moan_, and oh god it did things to me.

His hands snaked around my waist and slid down to rest on my butt, and with a light squeeze he brought his lips crashing back to mine when I looked up. The force of the kiss took my breath away, and I found myself being convinced to stay a little too quickly.

Honestly, I was hopeless when it came to Naruto.

And when it came to those light fingers, I'm pretty sure my mind turned into mush.

They were flitting about everywhere under my shirt now, occasionally running down my back to slide tantalizingly under my waistband, only to pull out straight away and go back up my sides.

I breathed heavily against his lips and trailed my hand that was in his hair down the length of his arm, pulling it away from my back and entangling out fingers as I whispered, "Tell me why I should stay. I need to know."

He leaned forwards a tiny bit to brush his lips against mine briefly before replying, "There're too many reasons, but one is right in front of you."

I groaned and melted our lips together again despite the corniness of it all, pushing my tongue into his mouth and kissing him for all he was worth. I revelled in the feeling of being so close to him, of feeling his body heat as his hand clenched tighter around my own, and of feeling our hips grind against each other again and again.

He dropped his other hand down from playing over my stomach to grip my right hip painfully tight, surely leaving marks, and I nipped at his bottom lip in warning. He released the pressure slightly before dragging his lips away from mine almost regretfully and gasping out, "I'm pretty sure we need to take this somewhere that no one can walk in on us."

"They're all in class," I whispered seductively, kissing him again.

He pulled away and said a little more urgently, "Someone could walk around the corner any second."

I shrugged and brought my right hand up to trace a path leading from his collar bone up to his ear, leaning forwards and taking his earlobe between my teeth for a second when my hand tangled in his hair again.

"Where do you suggest?"

I dropped my hips against his again, painfully slowly, and watched with a smirk as he dropped his head back against the brick wall he was pushed up against and bit his lip.

"Oh fuck, I don't care. Anywhere we won't get caught."

And with impeccable timing, the bell rang loudly, signalling an end to not only the day, but to our activities as well.

Dammit.

Naruto swore again and hit his head a couple of time on the wall, clearly trying to get himself under control. I wasn't going so great myself, to be perfectly honest, and getting my breathing back to normal was not an easy task.

"Looks like we'll have to save this for later," Naruto said quietly, giving my hand a squeeze.

"I'll hold you to that," I smirked.

He smirked right back at me before we both took a couple of very deep breaths. I stepped away from him reluctantly, and when he looked like he was about to chase me I put a hand on his chest and stood at arms length.

"Lee in a bikini, dobe, Lee in a bikini."

If that didn't work then I didn't know what would.

* * *

"Thank you for today, everyone. You can pack up and go now. See you next week."

A collective sigh of relief went around the gym as Hayate-sensei waved his hands in the direction of the storage room, indicating for us to put our stuff in there and leave. We all shuffled towards the storage room to put our training swords back (been doing the damn course for a month, you'd think they'd let us use something a little more dangerous), and slowly filed out of the gym as the level of noise amongst us rose steadily until everyone was talking and shouting over the top of each other like usual.

Naruto was up ahead with Lee, arguing about something I was sure to hear about later when Naruto was pissed off at losing to the 'the fuzzy-browed freak' yet again. Or maybe I'd get to interrupt him before he ranted… yes, perverted thoughts are running rampant. You know me too well.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, jolting me back to the present, and turned around to see Neji creasing his brow at me.

I gave him a questioning look and said somewhat cautiously, "Hey…?"

He fell into step with me and shoved his hands in his pockets, long hair falling to cover his face a little. "Hey."

I raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

I frowned. How very… un-Neji. Then a thought hit me and I smirked, reaching out to put an arm over his shoulders and grinning nastily at him. "Still want to get in Gaara's pants?"

He shrugged me off instantly and shot back almost angrily, "Still want to get in Naruto's pants?"

"Yep."

He rolled his eyes at my blunt response and refused to answer my question, so I stared at him meaningfully until he looked around a little nervously and shook his head. "He's with my cousin, Sasuke. I think that means his out of bounds,"

"I didn't ask whether or not he was out of bounds. I asked whether you still wanted in."

He groaned and pushed me. "Don't ask such invasive questions, Uchiha. It will get you nowhere."

"And procrastinating won't get _you_ anywhere."

"I am _not_ – you know what? Forget it. I don't even know why I bother."

"Ooh, don't be like that. What did you want to say?"

He huffed and glared at me for a moment before shrugging, crossing his arms as he said a little more quietly, "Just checking to see if you're okay."

Well that was a little surprising.

I said nothing, simply frowned a little and kept right on walking up to our lockers in silence. So I really was moody the last few days, huh? I honestly hadn't noticed it that much. But then again, Neji was a very observant person, and if Tenten was right and Gaara had indeed been talking to Hinata about it, then there was no doubt that he'd spoken to Neji as well, so they were both discussing my broodiness without my knowing.

I think I'm losing my touch at concealing my emotions.

… Damn dobe.

I sighed. "I'm fine, Neji."

He clearly didn't believe me. "Are you really?"

"Yes."

"Because you don't look it."

"I know, okay. I've just had a lot on my mind because of shit that happened on the weekend, nothing major." I nearly smacked myself for that one. "So don't stress it."

He still looked sceptical. "Okay… but just so you know, we're going to have to come up with a better plan for kicking those teachers out. Or an actual plan."

I turned to him quickly with eyebrows raised, just as I felt someone else come up beside me on my other side. I looked over and saw a familiar redhead strutting along next to me, arms folded as usual. He met my gaze with a blank expression before continuing to stare straight ahead.

"I've seen them with Tsunade and there's no way she's going to believe a word of what we say. Orochimaru's the worst. He's so disgustingly sweet to her, always helping her out with stuff and making sure the other pricks do too. We're going to have to actually _do_ something."

I frowned down at him even though he was still deadpanning straight ahead, and thought carefully before replying. Actually, I just didn't know what to say. I knew there had to be a reason Tsunade was letting them stay in the school, but it definitely couldn't be that she thought they were genuinely nice, because she wasn't that gullible. She couldn't be. If what we had gathered over the years and what Naruto had told me about her was true, then there was no way in hell she would fall for someone's tricks just because he was a little bit nice to her a few times.

No, there had to be something more to that.

I glanced at both friends either side of me before saying, "I'll think it over and call you tomorrow night."

* * *

Aaaagh.

Detentions suck, detentions suck, detentions suck.

Watching the clock can only get someone so much entertainment, you know. It runs out after the first two minutes or so.

I shouldn't even be here, damnit! I was an Uchiha, and Uchihas did _not_ get after school detentions. The fact that I was late to history three times in a term and had my mobile in the class to boot had nothing to do with it. I was still an Uchiha and I still had my pride to uphold, cranky teachers be damned.

Sure, I'd finished my maths assignment that we'd only been given today, but that didn't mean it was worthwhile. I still shouldn't have bothered coming. Now it's going to be on my report that Uchiha Sasuke got an after school detention, my parents will see it, give me a stern talking to about what they expected in a son who was the future Head of Sharingan Protection, then cut off my allowance for a month.

Maybe I should turn into an outright shithead, just to piss them off.

That could be fun.

Seriously, the only thing in my life that they didn't have control over was Naruto and my friends. That was it. They controlled how much money they gave me every month, controlled where I lived, where I went to school, how well I did at school, probably who my teachers were, what subjects I did, where I was going to go to university – and now they were trying to control my future career.

Bastards.

I glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that we only had –

"Okay, you can go now, and I don't want to see you back here again, got it?"

– no time left. Huh, that last ten minutes went a lot faster than expected.

I stood up and picked up my books with the rest of the no-good students that I made a point of distancing myself from, and waited until they'd all gone out the door before going out myself. I ignored Kurenai-sensei's concerned look following me out the door. No doubt she was just surprised to see me in detention.

My first detention ever, all because I couldn't bloody concentrate and was about three seconds into the class after the bell.

God damnit, everything was going wrong.

Okay, maybe not _everything_, but a lot.

Okay, maybe not even a lot, but for some reason that's how it felt.

I'd suddenly been bombarded with all these new thoughts on things and new aspects of looking at the situation that I seriously didn't know what to think, I had two best friends who were giving me mixed opinions, a boyfriend who seemed to be getting sexier by the day and who was getting harder and harder to resist, and my cousin kept rocking up at random times just 'to see how I was going'.

Then to top it all off, Itachi had been really distant the last few days and I was worried as all hell about him. After he was perfectly normal with Shisui, I didn't know what to think. There was no way he could just snap and go straight back to how he was, but it looked like that's what happened.

And I still hadn't told him. I didn't know when I would.

But I could probably come up with some at the very last minute and he would believe me as long as Kisame didn't slip. I might as well just tell him the truth.

… That could be an option, actually.

I blinked slowly at the realisation.

Why not? If he was normal with Shisui and knew about our parents then why not tell him the truth? I could tell him when I got home, and if he changed moods again and didn't remember, then so be it. I could just make up another story then, fabricate it to no end and just tell him he was dreaming it all if I ended up staying.

Telling the truth would just be so much easier, and it… yeah, I kinda wanted to remember what it was like when he was his usual cold self. Believe it or not, I liked that older brother.

Sure he was an arse a majority of the time, but I knew he cared about me. He knew he was better than me, but he encouraged me to try and beat him. He _wanted_ me to succeed him because he didn't like being in the spotlight.

If he was back to normal then hopefully he'd still be like that – he still wouldn't want to take Sharingan deep down, and maybe he would give me permission to have it.

For some reason I felt I needed that.

"Don't go back on your word."

I jolted myself out of my thoughts, suddenly realising that I'd stopped entirely, right in the middle of the hallway, and strode purposefully to my locker. I was just about to open it when the voice that brought me back to earth sounded again, this time a little louder.

"You said you'd do it, so I expect you to! He's always smirking at me because he _knows_ he won. I can't stand it!"

I knew that voice from somewhere…

A sigh. "No, I'm fine. Sorry I snapped…. Yeah… yeah… It's just one of the teachers, never - … You don't know him, don't worry about it."

I frowned as I thought, trying to match the voice to a face. It was girly, but I was sure it was a boy. He had a slight northern accent… Aah, I knew I knew it from somewhere!

"He's a total freak and pissy as all hell. I hate him. I'm going to hurt him soon, provided one of the other kids in my class doesn't get to him first."

It's right there, so close… I swear I know it!

"I told you, you don't know him, so you can't do anything about this one… Don't search around!" A tiny laugh. "Oh haha, hilarious… Fine. Sasori, my metalwork teacher. Told you you wouldn't know him."

Haku.

That's who it was.

Haku bitching about Sasori to someone who sounded like a close friend. A close friend who seemed to feel very protective and possibly had connections, if the 'you can't do anything about this one' was anything to go by.

I dropped my hand to my side, unwilling to open my locker in case it was too loud and the conversation was interrupted. I felt like something important was going on here, and if I missed it I'd regret it.

"You what? Really? … Huh, didn't think you would, that's all."

So whoever he was talking to knew Sasori, I could gather that much. Lucky it wasn't Naruto overhearing this conversation, or he never would have made sense of it and we'd miss out on the perfect opportunity. I had no idea what exactly that opportunity was yet, but I was usually one to trust my instincts as long as my brain agreed, and right now my stomach was doing somersaults as my heart beat double-time, and my brain was flashing bright neon signs that said, 'Incredibly important! Incredibly important!'

So I wasn't just going to walk off.

"He _what_? Shit… Yeah I know him, he's in the same class… No, I don't think so. I mean, they're nasty to each other, but that's all… What girl? Oh _that _girl. Not personally, no… What's he doing in a school then? Does the Principal know?"

My heart sped up and my breathing quickened. So close to finding out… so close.

"Didn't think so… No… Of course not… Well what are you going to do?"

Come on…

"Hatake-sensei? Yeah he's not my teacher for anything, but I've seen him around. Why?"

Kakashi? Something was going on with Kakashi? I frowned deeply, trying to think rationally. I knew for a fact that Kakashi wasn't actually involved in anything to do with Orochimaru and whatnot, so it couldn't be that he was pretending to want to kick them out.

So maybe he knew whoever Haku was talking to…

God, this was like some ridiculously twisted sinister plot that belonged in a daytime soap opera that only old rotting people watched before they fed their three hundred cats.

"Okay then, it's cool. Are you still going to help me? … You better. You promised and now I'm expecting you to… Yeah, real smug. Bastard… Of course he was good! Why the hell do you think I'm going through all this crap just to beat him up? Obviously he had _something_ going for him… Hey! That is a totally inappropriate question! And no, definitely not… Yeah, yeah, you too."

Okay… so something was definitely up with Sasori, Kakashi was linked somehow to whoever Haku was talking to, and now Haku knew just why Sasori couldn't be teaching. But I couldn't get it out of him without revealing that I'd either listened into his conversation or by acknowledging that I knew something was off too.

And then there was that 'yeah I know him, he's in the same class' thing. So there was someone – Gaara. It had to be. Shit, and 'that girl' had to be Sakura.

I had a couple of phone calls to make.

* * *

"Satsuki?!" I called out over the hum of the customers and the coffee machine combined.

She raised her head in acknowledgement and raised her eyebrows.

"Do you still need me or can I go?"

She shrugged and thought for a moment, looking around. "Yeah, should be fine. Your favourite people have just come in though – why leave now?"

I rolled my eyes as I chucked the pad and pen on the bench, untying my apron as I looked towards the door. Sure enough, there was my two 'favourite people' heading straight towards their usual table.

For once I was actually glad to see them.

"Just get their orders when you get summoned and then you can go."

I nodded and headed over to them quickly, grabbing the pad again on my way over. They looked up when I reached them and Iruka gave me a semi-nervous smile while Kakashi's only visible eye crinkled. I didn't have to see his mouth, which was covered by a navy blue turtleneck (don't ask), to know that he was smirking in his I-know-something-you-don't-_sucka_ kind of way.

Well hopefully I'd find that out by the end of the day.

"Uchiha, off work just to see us? How kind."

"Funny, sensei, now I need your orders before I can join you, so make it quick."

Iruka snorted as soon as Kakshi picked up the menu and took it from his partner's hands immediately. "He said _quick_, baka."

Kakashi had nothing to say to that.

My science teacher scanned the menu for a total of six seconds before snapping it shut and handing it back to me with a smile. "The soup special would be wonderful, thank you Sasuke." He turned back to Kakashi. "And _that_, my friend, is how you order."

The silver-haired man looked affronted and made a few spluttering noises before saying indignantly, "'_Friend'_?"

I couldn't stop the tiny laugh that escaped as Iruka immediately went bright red and glanced around nervously while Kakashi continued.

"I feel a little bit offended, _Ru-chan_. Honestly, after all we've been through I thought you could have at least acknowledged me! Do I mean nothing to you?"

Iruka made hushing sounds as I tried my hardest not to laugh at his distress when a few strange looks were sent their way. He waved his hands frantically at Kakashi as the man continued broadcasting his apparent 'shock and hurt' at Iruka.

"Five years we've been together and –"

"Hatake!" Iruka whispered angrily, trying to shut him up. His incredibly red face was so amusing.

"Oh please, as if the whole town doesn't know you two are shagging anyway."

Both teacher's heads snapped up to look behind me at a smirking Gaara standing beside an equally smug Hyuuga. Iruka opened and closed his mouth several times, face going an impossibly darker shade of red as Kakashi chuckled opposite him.

"Oh, Ru-chan, did you honestly think no one knew? The amount of people who've walked in on us because _you_ can't –"

"Okay! Can we end this conversation now, please? And can someone tell me what those two are doing here?" He waved blindly at Gaara and Neji, having closed his eyes as if to save himself some degree of embarrassment.

"_Those two_ are here to help."

"Of course we are, and you're here to feed us. So go and come back with food."

I raised my eyebrows at my redheaded friend and shot back, "I'm off now. Make it yourself."

He shrugged. "Okay."

And he actually began to walk off…

Thankfully Neji caught his collar and said forcefully, "Don't be a smartarse. I know you're in a shit mood but you want to sort this out as much as the rest of us, so sit down."

Gaara looked like he was about to complain, but gave in with a glare and pulled up a chair from a nearby table that was thankfully empty. It wouldn't have bothered him to boot someone out of their seat just so that he could have one, but it saved me a lot of hassle if he wasn't upsetting anyone.

Neji followed after him and I suddenly remembered Iruka and Kakashi's orders.

"Back in a sec, guys. Don't kill each other while I'm gone."

If Neji was right and Gaara really was in a shit mood, then I didn't trust him with anyone except both Hyuugas and myself.

I ducked out the back after passing on the order to Hiro and changed out of my work clothes, shrugging on a light black hoodie over the top of a plain white t-shirt, and changed out of my good shoes. I hung my apron up by the wall as I came back out into the café, and ordered Gaara and Neji black coffees on my way back past.

They'd probably get offended if I got the teachers something and not them.

I sat back down with a small sigh and leaned back on my chair, stretching lazily. "Okay, who wants to start?"

Several eyebrows went up as everyone stared at me expectantly.

I shrugged, understanding the looks from the teachers. "They're here because they're in on it. Gaara's been getting shit from Sasori and Deidara, and Neji –" wants to get into Sabaku's pants and so is being as supportive as he can to win him over from his cousin "- knows about Orochimaru. They both do."

Kakashi nodded slowly while Iruka frowned at the tabletop. Well whatever, if they didn't like dealing with two more students then so be it. We'd just have to work on our own.

Suddenly Kakashi clapped his hands and said, "Are there any tables free out the back, Uchiha? I think this is something that shouldn't be discussed with so many ears around."

I thought for a moment before nodding. "I don't think there's many people out there. There was only a couple before but that was about an hour ago."

He exchanged a look with Iruka that I couldn't understand and probably wasn't meant to, and beckoned for us all to stand up. I waved Matsuri over as they all went out the door one by one, but made sure Gaara had gone through first. Couldn't have an episode like that first time again.

"Oi you, change the order for table fifty-three to outside, but don't you be the one who brings it out."

She tried to glare at me but I just stared her down until she huffed and nodded. It took a while for her to give in, but she knew the order around here. We had a nice little thing of pure hatred going on here. It was really working out for us, I think.

She was about to turn on her heel in what I'm sure was a very dramatic and pissed-off way, when suddenly her eyes went as wide as dinner plates and she gave a loud squeak.

Crap.

I didn't have to turn around to know what she'd seen, and cursed Gaara for sticking his head back inside to check if I was coming. I put one hand over her eyes and gripped her shoulder with the other, steering her away forcibly.

"Stay away, and don't come outside. I'm warning you. Get Hiro or Aki to serve us, and if you come out I'll make sure you never work here or anywhere else in Konoha again. Get over him."

I gave a not-so-light shove to the middle of her back and sent her on her way firmly. Oh she'd be back. Rats always came back, the persistent buggers.

I walked out to the outside eating area once I was satisfied that she'd stay away at least for today, and said, "Gaara, you know better than to show yourself when she's around."

"Hn," was the only response I got.

They were surrounding a table in the pitiful sunlight that we were granted today, shrouded in a semi-awkward silence.

"This isn't a yakuza meeting, guys, lighten up," I sighed as I pulled up a chair of my own.

Kakashi snapped his eyes up to meet mine and Gaara and Neji raised their eyebrows as Iruka attempted to conceal his sudden talent for choking on air with a loud series of coughs. I looked back and forth between both teachers, a tiny bit of worry creeping into my conscience.

"What, you guys have some secret identity you want to tell us about before you get us involved?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Not us, Uchiha. Them."

"Gaara and Neji?"

"Don't be a smartarse. We're still your teachers."

"We're out of school. It hardly counts."

"It doesn't matter where we are, you still don't have the right to be rude."

"Both of you shut up," Iruka cut in, ever the sensible one. We should be entitled to our arguments once a week. We hadn't had it yet. "We're here for a reason, so hurry up and tell them, Kakashi."

Kakashi scowled the tiniest bit before turning his attention to the quietly waiting Gaara, regarding him with calculating eyes for a moment.

"Tell me about Sasori and Deidara."

* * *

Yes it's short, but I gave you a snog in there so don't complain XP. And there was honestly no other point I could've cut this off if I didn't want it to be like, 20 pages long, so hopefully the next chapter will satisfy you a little more. And it will DEFINITELY be up next Tuesday because it's already written. I give each and every one of you permission to shoot me in the kneecaps if it isn't up either then or before then.

Thanks again for all your lovely reviews while I was kicking myself over how to keep this going! I'm finally back into it for good now!


	14. Intelligent, Really

I can breathe properly now! Actually, that's a lie - I really can't, but anyway... This chapter has been sitting in the back of my mind for soooo long and now I can _finally_ put it up here. And yay it's a long one! Hope you enjoy! XD Lord knows it was fun to write.

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

14. INTELLIGENT, REALLY

_Kakashi scowled the tiniest bit before turning his attention to the quietly waiting Gaara, regarding him with calculating eyes for a moment._

"_Tell me about Sasori and Deidara."_

--

"What do you want to know?" Gaara asked.

Kakashi leant forwards on his elbows intently. "Everything. I don't care how insignificant it seems, tell me anyway."

Gaara and Neji exchanged brief glances before the redhead took a deep breath and began in his usual toneless voice.

"Well, Deidara is my ceramics teacher and he's a right arse, for starters."

Kakashi snorted. "How so?"

Gaara shrugged. "He's incredibly rude, threatens me a lot, and says that if I ever play up around Sasori or cause any trouble he'll kill me – all that fun stuff."

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "Does he really? That's hardly teacherly behaviour."

"They're hardly 'teachers'," I spat.

"We know that, Uchiha. Go on, Sabaku."

Gaara sighed and shrugged again. "He's… uh, how much can I say in front of you guys?"

Iruka waved his hand. "Anything, we obviously don't care for them so whatever dirt you have on them is fine by us."

"Okay then… He swears a lot, can't spell to save his life, can't even talk using proper grammar, uses his baby face to get all the girls to do whatever he wants for them, has an obsession with bombs, lectured us about art for an entire double period and took pleasure in telling us nothing we did mattered because it should be destroyed anyway, destroys our work once we've completed it, honestly knows next to nothing about ceramics except the actual creating of the piece, has no hesitation in hitting us if he doesn't agree with what we say, and seems to love making a point of humiliating me. If I don't kill him by the end of the term then it'll be a miracle, trust me."

Kakashi nodded knowingly and made sounds of agreement the whole way through. "Mhmm… Good, good, and what about Sasori?"

Gaara growled in the back of his throat at the name. "I hate him."

Iruka sighed. "We gathered. Why do you hate him?"

"He's an arsehole. He's our metalwork teacher and… I don't know. I don't know what you want me to say. I don't know what I _can_ say. He's pretty much one of the worst people I've ever met aside from Deidara."

Neji laid a hand on his friend's arm for a second, quick enough that if I hadn't been expecting it I wouldn't have noticed, and said, "He seems to have had it in for Gaara right from the start and none of us know why. He just instantly hated him."

I nodded in agreement and said, "He's rude to everyone in class, insulting us and being completely indifferent about anything we do. He likes to talk about weapons and tells us that we can make them if we want and to go ahead and use them because it'll make his job easier."

Kakashi and Iruka were nodding along with everything we said, and didn't even make any move of shock or surprise at the mention of weapons. Just how much were they actually expecting from these guys? If they knew it all then why were they even asking us?

"Has he said anything remotely suspicious since he started?" Iruka asked impatiently. Kakashi sent him a warning look.

"Like what? That's not suspicious enough?" Neji asked, voicing all our confusion.

Kakashi sighed and stared at his hands for a moment. He seemed like he was about to explain when I interrupted him.

"I know something, but it's not anything about how he's been acting at school. It's from ages ago."

Kakashi nodded. "That's what we wanted."

I snuck a glance at my surprised yet expectant friends. Should I say it with Gaara around? He might freak out, say I'm lying, not believe me… But I had to take the chance. This stopped being only about Naruto the day Sakura ran out of our class, and now that she and Gaara were involved as well, there was no way I could hold back on anything.

"A little while ago, Sakura, you know, the one with the pink hair, she came into our class while Sasori was in the back. She was perfectly fine until Sasori stepped into the room –"

"Was that that time when she ran out and you went after her?" Gaara asked.

I nodded and Neji made an 'ooh' sound of recognition. "I remember that."

Iruka waved his hands, urging me to continue.

"Yeah, she just… ran," I said, a little lost at how to explain it.

"Why?"

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair as I took a nervous glance at Gaara. Stuff the consequences or whatever his reaction would be. This had to be said.

"I can't… I can't remember _exactly_ how it went because she was a little hysterical at the time, but the general gist was that when she was filling in at the hospital way back when, uh…" Another nervous glance at Gaara. He was looking at me somewhat suspiciously now. I took a deep breath, drawing inspiration from Naruto. "Kankuro brought Gaara in knocked unconscious and almost gone himself, Sakura treated Kankuro and went to help Gaara with Dr Chiyo when Sasori and Deidara came in, Deidara bragging about how he'd beaten the life out of this kid and Sasori had dealt with his brother, then Sasori came into the room Sakura and Gaara were in, went nuts and basically tried to kill her."

There was a long pause while everyone comprehended the story, no doubt trying to make sense of my ramble. I glanced at Gaara. He looked a little confused. Aki brought Gaara and Neji their coffees. They said nothing. 3… Hiro came in with the soup and a plate of bread. Kakashi and Iruka thanked him. 2… Hiro and Aki left and Gaara turned to me. 1…

"What the _fuck_?"

There we go.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples as the silence settled down heavily. Still, silence was better than shouting, I guess. I opened my eyes when it got too heavy, however, and saw Gaara sitting in a confused silence, staring at the table with his brows furrowed.

He looked across at me and said lowly, "What the hell are you talking about?"

I swallowed. "Sakura told me about it…"

"And why don't I know any of this?"

"Either you don't remember because you didn't want to, or you had concussion and actually can't recall it."

His eyes were narrowing steadily. "And why hasn't _anyone_ told me about it? It is my health you know, I am directly involved. I'm pretty sure I have a right to know the happenings in my own life."

I grunted, trying not to roll my eyes. "No one thought you'd take kindly to finding out you'd been almost killed by a pretty boy, and your brother by a guy who looks half your age. Sakura didn't want to talk about it, and fair enough. It's none of my business why neither of your siblings told you, but at least they took care of you while you were recovering. Who cares if they made up some bullshit story? Sakura said it was probably better that way – something about you being too 'unstable' to find out you were in a fucking coma all of a sudden."

His eyes were practically slits now, the eyeliner making him look even more threatening. "What, so when I was going to the doctors every few weeks for check-ups, it was because of that?"

"Most likely."

"Well, that's a bit of a big deal. Want to explain anything else while you're at it?"

"That's all there is, Sabaku."

"How about why I was targeted in the first place, or why Sakura got attacked too? Is there something going on here that I don't know about?" Neji put a hand on his arm but it was ignored.

"I don't know the whole story, all right. I have no idea, so don't pin it on me."

"Can you tell me why the _fuck_ someone like that is in a _school_?!" His voice was steadily climbing now, and he shrugged Neji off harshly.

"Boys!" Iruka snapped, trying to intervene.

"That's something I'd like to know as well. No need to go off at me about it. You don't know half the shit that's behind this!"

"Then tell us!"

"_I_ don't even know all the details."

"Then what the hell are we doing here?!"

"Boys, calm down." Kakashi slammed his spoon down, his voice low and threatening, and we both turned to him, scowling fiercely. I hadn't realised I was gritting my teeth so hard to stop from losing control.

There was a heated silence, broken eventually by Gaara saying quietly in a voice of sudden realisation, "And I am not unstable."

A collective snort went around the table.

"Nice," Kakashi muttered.

Iruka rolled his eyes. "So we're calm now? No more accusing people? Because we really don't have time for that. Just accept it and move on, Sabaku."

"Hey –"

"Accept it, and move. On." The science teacher backbone comes out again.

Gaara took a breath and sat back in his seat, reaching out for his coffee with a nod to me. "Well whatever. It gives me another excuse to smash his face in, at least."

Kakashi grinned as Iruka made a sound of disapproval and said, "He's still classified as a teacher, you know."

"So?" Gaara retorted.

"Now, now, let's not get into this argument again," Kakashi interjected. "There's been too many already, and I haven't even had my say yet."

"Then stop questioning us and get to it," Neji snapped, finally speaking up. I think we were both feeling a little frustrated at the amount of time this was taking with so little progress.

Kakashi raised his head and looked like he was about to say something when I suddenly remembered my other titbit of information about Sasori and interrupted him again.

"There's something else, too."

"We're full of surprises today, aren't we, Uchiha?" Neji said in a smartarse tone.

"Shut it, Hyuuga," I shot back.

Iruka put both hands in the air and said sternly, "Can we go more than thirty seconds without bickering like five year olds, do you think? None of us want to be here for hours so just keep your mouths _shut_ unless you have something worthwhile to say."

He cast a glare around the table that really was quite pathetic, but we recognised his effort and shut up out of politeness.

He nodded, satisfied, and said, "Now, Sasuke, you were saying…?"

I stared down at my hands. "You know the new kid, Haku?" Both teachers nodded. "I overheard an interesting conversation between him and someone else on the phone yesterday."

"Did you now?" Kakashi grinned. I got the feeling he knew something I didn't. Then again, that happened a lot, and most of the time he was just messing with your head. Because he was twisted like that.

I nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't say what they were talking about for certain, but the general hint I got was that Haku knows someone who is in a position of authority, knows about Sasori and Deidara's history, and knows you, Kakashi-sensei."

Neither of my teachers so much as blinked, merely cast shaded looks at each other in silent conversation.

"So that means this person knows about all the crap with me and Sakura," Gaara stated calmly.

I nodded and Gaara made an irritated sound in the back of his throat.

"Why don't I _remember_?" he growled quietly.

I managed to squeeze in a quiet "talk to Chiyo" before Kakashi finally decided to spill whatever he'd been meaning to say the whole time we'd been here having petty arguments.

"Well, I should probably say that Iruka and I already knew about that conversation, Sasuke. We didn't know you'd overheard, but we knew about it."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"He means," Iruka cut in smoothly, "that we are friends with Zabuza."

"Who is…?" Neji asked.

"A childhood friend of mine," Kakashi answered.

"Who also knows Haku…"

"Correct. Zabuza… I can't give too much away, but basically he knows his stuff. He'll go to any lengths to get the information he requires and is notoriously unforgiving. He is quite close with Haku, which is how he discovered the positions of Orochimaru, Deidara and Sasori have taken up at our school. It is his, ah, _business_ to know a lot about them, everything we need to know, and so Iruka and I met up with him last night, where he let us in on some… interesting information."

We were all paying attention now, that was for sure. We leaned forwards in our seats in anticipation. Even the ever-uninterested Gaara was watching Kakashi with fierce concentration. But then a thought hit me, and I made a disturbing connection, hoping to God that I was wrong.

"Wait a second…" Neji said quietly, narrowing his eyes. I could practically see the cogs turning in his brain.

"Shit," Gaara and I said at the same time.

Iruka was looking absolutely terrified while Kakashi kept his face perfectly blank and slurped his soup rudely, giving nothing away as usual.

Neji and I exchanged looks while Gaara frowned.

"No…" I said quietly.

"They wouldn't," Neji whispered, putting down his coffee in fear of spilling it.

Gaara looked straight at Kakashi. "Zabuza isn't just anyone, is he?"

Our teacher shrugged. "I can't say anything until I have his permission."

Neji and I groaned as Gaara got this twisted smirk on his face. The kind that made your stomach flip in anticipation of someone getting _very_ badly hurt.

"They didn't, did they?" I questioned in disbelief.

"Mhmm," Neji confirmed sourly.

Iruka smacked his partner. "Honestly, what were you hoping to achieve with that?"

"What were _you_ hoping to achieve with getting us involved with the freaking _yakuza_?" Neji hissed angrily, leaning forwards in his seat.

"We never said anything of the sort!" Kakashi denied adamantly.

"Yes you did, right when Sasuke first came out here."

"We're not stupid, you know. We can put two and two together," I put in just as angrily. "We're sixteen and seventeen, for God's sake!" There was a moment of silence, which I interrupted with a low growl. "What the _hell_ is happening here? It's just a petty high school grudge!"

Iruka sighed and held his face in his hands, Gaara was still smiling murderously, Neji and I fumed and Kakashi kept up the blank look.

"I know you're young, but you have _no_ idea how deep this goes, boys. If it could've been avoided then believe me, I would have put in every effort to make it so. Hopefully I'll be able to explain to you the true gravity of the situation once I talk with him again, but for now you will keep your lips tightly sealed. Do you understand?"

Gaara nodded immediately while Neji and I gaped.

"I asked you if you understood. Because if you don't, you can forget about having any part in this whatsoever. I know for a fact you both want revenge for your closest friends, and I agree with you one hundred percent, but you need to convince me that you can keep your mouths _shut_. Have I made myself clear?"

Neji and I shared a mildly terrified glance before swallowing hard and giving tiny nods. What the _hell_ had we gotten ourselves into?

Kakashi grinned across at us before suddenly clapping his hands and ripping off a chunk of bread. "Now that all that's settled, give them hell."

I blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Give them hell," he repeated.

"What exactly does 'hell' entail?" Gaara asked mischievously.

"Oh now we can't tell you that," Iruka smiled.

"We might get into trouble," Kakashi finished with a mouthful.

"But –" Neji started.

"Hyuuga," our English teacher interrupted after swallowing his bite. "I'm giving you permission to make their teaching lives here utter hell, you realise. You better do me proud."

--

I kicked open the door violently and threw my bag down by the couch after flicking off my shoes.

Well, that had certainly been an… interesting day.

And by 'interesting' I of course mean completely screwed up, full of the worst kind of surprises and wacked up teachers. I mean seriously, what were they _thinking_?! How deep did all this shit actually go? Were we all getting involved with something we'd never understand? How much would Kakashi and Iruka be willing (or allowed) to tell us? What if we uncovered some information we weren't supposed to find out and got involved in some crazy yakuza war?

Oh shit. Were Sasori, Deidara and Orochimaru part of the yakuza too? Then where did that leave Tsunade? Did she know about it and was blackmailed into keeping quiet? Maybe they were on the run and were hiding by… not hiding…

I stopped suddenly, my hand on the fridge door.

No…

I shook my head and told myself off for being stupid. They were in a freaking theatre company, for God's sake – not exactly yakuza material. Well, unless the recruitment standards had dropped considerably since my family had been in the business.

Oh come on, if you hadn't figured out that Sharingan was practically a less obvious version of the yakuza by now then so help you, really.

I stared into the fridge blankly, still not entirely believing that I'd been involved, gotten out of it, and now in the most important decision in my life… I couldn't avoid it. I choose to stay and I've got this Zabuza character and a truckload of secrets, I choose to go and I'm in control of something so similar it was almost amusing.

And I would've laughed if it wasn't so fucked up.

Then there was this whole issue with going behind Naruto's back. Well, not going behind him in a bad way – it was for his own benefit – but… for some reason it felt wrong. He'd stop me if I told him what we were doing though, _especially_ if I let it slip how dangerous these people actually were. Hell, _I_ didn't know how dangerous they were.

I still found it a little hard to believe myself, and we all know how long it takes Naruto to catch onto things. He'd go crazy and have a total fit, _then_ think about it. And no matter how many times I said I wasn't doing it solely for him, solely because of Orochimaru, he wouldn't believe me. Either that or I'd have to go and explain the whole Gaara and Sakura issue, which in turn would drag more people into it, and that was something I really didn't want to do. It wasn't my story to tell, anyway.

I realised I'd been staring into the fridge lost in my own thoughts for at least ten minutes, and decided there was nothing else for it.

Chocolate.

Shikamaru.

Blow up some aliens.

Sounds like a plan.

… Well, it _would_ if I hadn't sworn myself to secrecy, damnit. Now I had no one to talk to except Gaara and Neji, but they were involved so I wouldn't get that 'outsider's perspective' that I loved so much.

My stomach growled at me and I frowned down at it. Now that was a sound that reminded me of Naruto.

I sighed up at the clock as I reached into the back cupboard for my trusty chocolate, and saw that it was nearing six o'clock. Great, now I felt guilty about eating crap so close to dinner time.

As if on cue, Itachi the chef came slinking into the kitchen from his room, trying his utmost to walk normally.

I _really_ wish I hadn't noticed that slight limp.

He glanced at me and said, "Curry for tea okay with you?"

I made a faint noise of approval before realising that if my brother was limping then that meant several things, the most obvious of which being that Itachi and his shark friend had just finished I don't even want to think about it, but if _that_ happened then that meant said shark friend was still here, which in turn meant that I'd have to update him on the leaving situation.

But how could I explain when I didn't know what was happening?!

God, life is just one giant, complicated fucking _mess_ after another. Couldn't things ever happen normally around here?

Itachi came right up close to my face. I honestly didn't notice he was there until I looked up to see him holding up a frying pan incredibly close to my head, in a ready position to give me the beating of a lifetime.

I swore, ducked and spun out the way as he made a noise that sounded a little like 'hnyaha', and grinned like a two year old.

"What the – oh my – _Jesus_! What are you _doing_?"

"You were spacing out," he shrugged

"So you held a damn _frying pan_ up to my _head_?" (1)

He made the weird sound again and nodded, rocking back and forth on his heels, and even in my sudden panic I couldn't help feeling a little relieved that a) he hadn't actually hit me, and b) he was slowly easing back into his usual crazy self.

The steady Itachi had been weirding me out for a couple of days now.

I shot him a look that said exactly what I was thinking ('you're freaking _insane_'), but he just glared at me, waving the pan around for emphasis as he said, "Quit sulking. Whatever it is, either tell me or get over it. I don't want you being all moody during dinner."

I had nothing to say to that, and so with a last nervous glance at the frying pan, I turned on my heel and marched off to my room. I didn't miss the 'tch' my brother made though.

Just as I opened my door, Kisame stepped out of the bathroom, fresh out of the shower and thankfully wearing more clothes than just a towel. He looked smug. That was probably why Itachi was limping.

I ordered myself to stop thinking right there and slammed the door.

--

Well, that was an incredibly awkward dinner.

I _hated_ it when Kisame stayed late. They always passed these knowing looks to each other, and I'm certain Kisame's hands did a bit of wandering if Itachi's sudden twitches were anything to go by.

It was disturbing, to say the least. Honestly, couldn't they keep their hands to _themselves_? Especially at the dinner table and in front of _me_! It was enough to make me sick.

And to top it all off, today was one of _those_ days, and it was frustrating me to no end that I couldn't just call Gaara and order him to get his arse over here to rectify the damn situation. We both had someone now, and we couldn't do that anymore.

I was back in the lounge room now, gritting my teeth, battling it out with the aliens and trying desperately to ignore my brother and his shark's flirtatious conversation over in the kitchen. Not fun.

I cursed myself for having a vivid imagination as Itachi's orders of "No, Kisame, not now. You can't possibly want more" floated into the lounge room. Then Kisame mumbled something back and oh Itachi did _not_ just say that.

A brief pause.

"I _said_, keep your hands _away_. Oh you're so freaking persistent! Fine! But don't expect it to be a regular occurrence."

He did.

I shuddered. Those two were disgusting.

A few minutes of relative silence followed, save for the sounds of dishes being washed and put away, and I thought for a moment that maybe I just misinterpreted whatever they were saying and let my imagination get the better of me. I hoped so, anyway. I mean, I knew what they got up to, but they usually had the decency to keep it under wraps while I was around. Notice the word 'usually' in that sentence.

I threw the controller down in horror suddenly when I heard my brother give a distinctive groan, Kisame say, "I can't… get it…" and Itachi respond with a somewhat amused, "Well I'll just have to help you then."

That was it.

I stood up with a sense of finality and rushed over to the kitchen with my eyes squeezed shut, not willing to take the chances of seeing something I would regret later. "Would you two _get_ a _room_?!"

Total silence followed my sudden outburst, and I braced myself before cracking open one eyelid a tiny bit. As soon as I took in the situation I squeezed them shut again and turned my back on them.

Okay, so maybe I'd misinterpreted the entire conversation, but they looked to be heading that way anyway. Lucky I'd stopped them when I did. I clenched my jaw as they started giggling behind me.

"What, am I not allowed to eat cheesles?" Kisame asked innocently.

"Not straight after dinner," Itachi scolded.

"I don't care when you eat them," I interrupted, "but if you want my brother to lick your fingers for you afterwards, I suggest you do it somewhere incredibly far away from me."

And there they go, laughing like hyenas at my snarky tone.

"Aww, isn't little Sasu-chan getting any?" Kisame smirked.

He did _not_.

Damn it all to hell! I start feeling a little sexually frustrated, so everyone comes out with sex jokes and snide comments and ugh I hate the way life works. It doesn't serve to benefit anyone, I swear. Who could possibly gain anything from a sexually frustrated Sasuke except maybe Gaara, who, may I say yet again, is now out of bounds?

I bit back the sharp retort I had on the tip of my tongue, knowing that the more defensive I got, the more they were likely to tease me. Simple tactic, really. Ignore them and they'll stop. But it was so hard!

"That's completely beside the point," I said curtly, my back still turned. "I just got a little disturbed seeing you and _my brother_ together, which is perfectly understandable, I'm sure."

Itachi snorted and I heard a couple of footsteps before a hand came into contact with my shoulder. "It'll happen in time, bro, time."

"It has already _happened_, thank you very much."

I didn't need to look to know he was rolling his eyes. "You know what I mean."

Then he and shark boy were strolling past me, and I opened my eyes to see them pulling their shoes on at the front door.

Oh thank Christ they were leaving.

"The kitchen's clean so leave it that way, turn off the lights and the heater before you go to bed, lock the door after us and don't spend hours on the phone or you'll pay the bill, got it?"

I rolled my eyes as he stood in the open doorway, hands in his hips. "You have left me at home alone before, you know. I think I can handle it."

"Better to be safe than sorry." He stepped out the door with a wave and "Ittekimasu!" thrown over his shoulder. But before I had the chance to tell him to stay safe, he bounded back in with wide eyes.

"Don't burn anything, don't try to cook anything because that will result in burning, don't break anything – that includes yourself, don't hurt yourself full stop, call me if anything goes wrong, and for the love of God, do _not_ throw Same in the fish tank. Took me hours to get him out last time. I swear that cat can breathe underwater."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But we don't have -"

"Have fun! I'll be back tomorrow afternoon!" And the door was closed firmly behind him.

I was wondering when the ridiculous rule was coming. There was always one in there somewhere.

So… I had the whole house to myself.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, watching Same suspiciously as he came skulking out it Itachi's room. He looked up at me in a way that clearly said 'shit, you saw me' and slowly backed back into the room.

I raised an eyebrow once he was out of sight.

Yes, that cat definitely idolised Itachi.

I shook my head, chuckling lightly, and sat back down in front of the television after locking the door. I was about to hit the resume button before I glanced up at the clock. Almost seven thirty…

Tonight was a night where I felt I needed company. I called Shikamaru and Sakura far too often. They were probably starting to think that our friendship was purely based on me using them to sort out my problems. But… there really wasn't anyone else to call. Sure, I was close-ish with other people, but probably not close enough to invite around randomly.

I frowned.

I could just invite a whole bunch of people. Yeah, that could work. Besides, even if I couldn't tell them about what was currently eating me up inside, I could at least tell them that I was possibly maybe not quite sure but a little more than likely not leaving anymore. I could tell them I'd decided to work it out for myself, so then it wouldn't be taken as me yet again pushing my problems onto other people and getting them to fix it for me.

I'd survived so long sorting out my own crap, dealing with everything in my own way, so why did I start depending on other people now?

Yeah, but look how you turned out… You're so much more fun now that you know what, you know, _socialising_ is.

I mentally smacked that distinctly Naruto voice in my mind. Arse.

Well that was that, then. I was going to have some people over, tell them I was deciding for myself what to do with my life, and I'd let them know when it was certain.

I heaved myself to my feet and shuffled over to the phone, taking it off the wall and dialling Sakura's number as I sat back down on the floor.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"What's wrong this time?"

I frowned. I knew it. "Nothing, I just wanted to know if you wanted to come round."

"Why?" She sounded genuinely confused.

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because!"

"Something has _got_ to be wrong."

"Sakura, nothing's wrong."

"I expect you to be in an emotionally hopeless wreck when I get there," she said in her motherly tone.

"Well I won't be."

"Su-ure you won't."

I resisted the strong urge to hang up on her and forget the whole thing. "Look, if –"

"Okay, okay, I'll stop bitching," she laughed. "Anyone else coming?"

I relaxed a little, stretching my legs back and leaning back on my free arm. "I was going to call Shikamaru, Gaara, Neji and maybe Shino. I dunno, pretty much anyone I can tolerate."

She laughed again. "Which doesn't really leave us with that many, does it?"

"Whatever," I huffed.

"No Naruto?"

I was silent a moment before I said slowly, "No… I don't think that's a good idea…"

She made an 'aah' of understanding and thankfully didn't ask anymore. That might have been embarrassing. "Do you want me to call Tenten and Hinata then?"

I was about to say yes when I realised that maybe having Hinata, Gaara and Neji together in the one room wasn't such a good idea. Neji seemed to be getting bolder and bolder lately, and sadly, at the same time Hinata and Gaara seemed to be drifting apart a little. I hadn't seen them together as much, and Gaara never talked about her, despite Hinata's obvious continuing enthusiasm.

"Uh… maybe not Hinata."

Sakura caught on immediately, ever the observant one. "Yeah, probably best not to. Poor girl."

"Don't go interfering," I warned.

"I wouldn't!"

I snorted. "Sure."

"Shut up, you."

We bickered for a bit longer about pointless things that didn't make any sense, as we so often did, before she hung up to call Tenten, saying she'd be there within half an hour and leaving me to call Shikamaru and the others. I was just dialling my other best friend's number when my mobile rang loudly in my pocket. I put the phone down hurriedly and fished my phone out, not bothering to check the screen before answering.

"Hello?"

"Open your door, it's freezing out here."

My eyes instantly went as wide as saucers at the sound of Naruto's voice and I started panicking. "Y- uh- huh? You're here?"

Life is cruel. Too cruel.

There were a whole lot of reasons why Naruto shouldn't come over tonight, the most important of which being that Kisame's words had actually had a bit of an effect, and I no longer trusted myself to be along with my boyfriend.

Great.

Then there was the possibility of me getting all distant again and him actually figuring out what was wrong. That was a definite no no, as my angsty self from a couple of hours ago decided.

"Ye-es…" Naruto answered. "Now let me in."

"But –"

"Teme, open the damn door before I smash open a window and climb in."

That got my attention. Itachi said not to break anything.

I didn't bother replying, just snapped the phone shut and made my way hurriedly over to the door. All thoughts about having to create a distraction and make sure we didn't get too close and I hoped he wasn't staying the night because I really didn't trust myself – everything went out the window the instant that door was opened. My back was slammed against the neighbouring wall, two hands fisting in my hair and chapped lips pressing harshly against my own.

What a dangerous surprise.

When he pulled back to breathe I put a hand on his cheek, the other resting lightly on his waist. "Naruto, what -?"

"Do you have to interrupt?" He seemed angry.

I frowned. "Yes, because you're clearly shitty about something and you're taking it out on me at a really bad time."

"What?"

"Same reason as last time, dobe, so I suggest you either step away or finish what you started." I surprised myself by how similarly my voice resembled a territorial growl.

Naruto didn't budge. In fact, I think he moved closer. _Why_ did he have to do this when I was feeling this way, damnit!

He leaned close and whispered seductively low into my ear, "I don't care what you do, as long as it's you who does it."

My eyes widened again and I made a couple of sounds of disbelief before my mind finally calmed down to a level where I could think relatively straight. Naruto was… Naruto was agreeing to _something_. I didn't quite know what, and I don't think he did either, but… well, in my current state of frustration, it was heaven to hear him say that. And it felt even better when he reinforced his words by kissing my neck softly, varying the pressure.

"Do you mean…?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Another light kiss. "I feel disgusting and I expect you to fix it."

I stood in a confused silence for a second before I realised what he meant, and narrowed my eyes dangerously. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Later."

I gripped his hips tighter as his tongue flicked out teasingly on my skin, and I tried to convince myself that this was no way to deal with the issue, but I was honestly having a hard time.

"You really don't care what –?"

"To a certain extent."

I forced him to look up and meet my eyes, though that did feel very nice. "Are you sure?"

"I said to a certain extent, teme."

I rolled my eyes. Jeez, it was like he thought I was going to jump him the second he gave any form of consent. "I _know_, but can I –?"

"Yes, now hurry the hell up before I change my mind."

I didn't need to be told again.

Our lips were instantly moving against each other, tongues battling, hands roaming to everywhere they could reach. I could feel the excitement burning in my veins as we kissed ferociously, harshly. We both had a little anger in us, and let it out on the other through pleasure, gripping to tight we were sure to bruise, Naruto almost pulling my hair out.

We were desperate, frantic even, as we made our way to the large armchair, the bedroom being too far away, and when I pushed him down onto it beneath me I looked into his eyes. He looked more determined than I'd ever seen him, and I shivered in anticipation. Tonight we were both willing, we both _wanted_ it, but we both had enough sense not to go the whole way and ruin it.

He'd agreed to pretty much anything except actual sex, and I was planning to use those few words to their full extent. I would make him scream my name, no matter what.

I smirked as I slowly lowered myself to straddle his hips, not sitting on him fully though, and reached down to run my fingers lightly under his shirt. He shuddered noticeably and leaned forwards to kiss me again, but I pulled back.

Gaara always told me I was the master of teasing.

Naruto frowned at me and leaned in again, but I kept my distance, hands keeping up their playful wanderings. He seemed to get the hint and dropped his head back down against the back of the chair, hands coming to rest on my hips again.

I smirked at him as I let my left hand walk up his right side, ticklishly light, and almost made it to the spot that made his breath stop and his entire body tense, but stopped just short.

He bit his lip and breathed heavily through his nose. "Sasuke…" he groaned, clearly wanting me to do _something_.

I was having an incredibly hard time controlling myself, despite Gaara's praise about being 'the master', so I couldn't help but drop my head to lick lightly at his neck, kissing and nipping a path down to his collar bone.

I tugged at his shirt as I did so, telling him I wanted it off, and he raised his arms so I could pull it over his head and throw it to some random place on the floor where it was likely to be forgotten for quite a while to come.

Naruto dropped his hands back down, running his hands from the middle of my back, down past my butt and along my thighs. And it felt more than good – _amazing_ – especially when he scraped his nails lightly over my thighs through the fabric of my jeans, but it wasn't in my plans just yet.

I stopped working at the sensitive spot above his collar bone and looked up to meet his eyes, my hands moving from playing along his chest to run down each of his arms, eventually tangling our fingers together.

"No touching," I whispered.

He raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"I said no touching."

"Why?"

I smirked and shrugged, dropping my head a second time to kiss his chest lightly, tongue flicking out at random. I was just about to give him a little taste of pleasure and let my hips meet his for a second, but was suddenly struck with a thought.

Oh shit.

I sat up with a jolt, raising myself up on my knees so that I could pull my phone out of my back pocket. I flipped it open and found Sakura's number, hoping like hell she would answer.

"Teme, what the –"

"Shh."

The dial tone rung in my ear for what seemed like an eternity before she finally answered with an, "I knew something was wrong."

"Cancel tonight. I didn't get round to calling the guys."

I hung up and threw the phone… somewhere, not bothering to wait for her reply. I'm sure my slightly breathless voice tinged with desperation would give her enough of a hint as to what was going on.

Naruto was almost glaring at me. "You had plans?"

"This is more important," I shrugged.

"'This'?"

"You, dobe, you," I corrected myself.

He sat up a little, the hand that I'd let go of to find my phone joining with mine again. "You can be with your friends, you know, it's all right."

I shook my head. "You're more important. _We're_ more important. I can see them any time, it's no big deal, but I think this is something we both need right now and it's not going to do either of us any good if we finish here. So stop worrying and kiss me."

He tilted his head to the side briefly, almost in consideration, before tugging me forward at our joined hands and kissing me, softly this time. That angry, bruising passion was gone, giving way to something much softer and more… pleasant.

Our lips moved together, tongues eventually joining in but not fighting for dominance, just dancing around each other. I didn't know how long it would last though, both of us being as desperate as we were.

Naruto pulled back long enough to say "Do you think we should move this to your room?" before I interrupted him with a kiss.

I mumbled an affirmative in the back of my throat and slowly stood up, waiting for him to match my pace so we didn't have to part, and we gradually made our way to my room. Lucky it was relatively close by, because by the time we were outside my door I'd already been stripped of my shirt, and when we made init to my room, too engrossed in each other to so much as flick a lamp on, I pushed him down onto my bed and clambered atop him again, I was lowering my hips down to his and grinding against him excruciatingly slowly, both of us gasping in total pleasure.

The previous fire was steadily coming back with each groan Naruto gave, and my control from before had gone out the window and _very_ far away.

I kissed him hard, preferring the angry kisses to the soft ones just for tonight, and nipped at his bottom lip when he refused me entry, probably just to piss me off for fun. He heeded the warning and opened up, letting me explore his mouth for the hundredth time. But no matter how many times we kissed, it was always amazing, it always left me craving for more. More of his lips, more of the sounds he made, more of _him_.

His hands were roaming all over my chest and my back, obviously trying to find the places that made my whole body shiver, but he wasn't going to find them there. Then his hands passed my hips and ran along my thighs, nails scraping through fabric again, and I had to pull back from the kiss to draw breath sharply.

"So it's your legs, is it?" he smirked.

I narrowed my eyes, and I was certain he could see it despite the little light we had from outside. I was a little embarrassed that of all places, that was my weak spot. Sure I had a couple of others in the usual spots, but just the feeling of nails lightly running… along… thighs… ngh.

He did it again, even lighter, and I bit my lip hard, unable to suppress a quit moan.

This wasn't going the way I wanted.

I glared and pushed my hips down hard and sudden, forcing his hands to stop at the sudden pleasure. I smirked as I did it again, slower this time, more purposeful, and found the exact spot on his right side that made him gasp.

That was better. I wanted _him_ squirming beneath _me_, not the other way around. That just wasn't how things were done.

Suddenly his hands were at my waistband, frantically trying to undo the buttons in his haste. I placed my hand over his and breathed, "Slow down."

I could feel his embarrassment from here, even if I couldn't see it, and I couldn't help but smile a little. He'd gone from overly shy and nervous, to finally overcoming it and starting a relationship with me, to furiously trying to get into my pants.

Hear any complaints? Didn't think so.

He took a breath and tried again, slower this time, and pulled the buttons through their catches carefully. I sought out the lights of his eyes in the dark, wishing we could turn a lamp on or something, but acknowledged the fact that he was probably embarrassed and found comfort in the darkness.

He pushed me onto my back to make removing my pants easier, and I kicked them off my feet, left in my boxers. I decided it wasn't fair and pushed Naruto so he was beneath me once more, leaning down to kiss him reassuringly, but still with the same force as before, as my hands trailed slowly down his chest, letting him know where they were going.

I toyed with his belt for a moment, giving him the chance to protest, and when none came I swiftly undid it along with his buttons. We were still kissing furiously as he shrugged himself out of his jeans, and then both our bodies were pressing together, almost naked, and it felt like heaven.

He pushed me up so that we were sitting upright, me still straddling his thighs, and eventually pulled back from our kiss to take in some air.

Then he was kissing, biting and licking down my neck, hands roaming everywhere, occasionally down my thighs to make me shudder, and I ground my hips against his. He bit down sharply on my neck in pleasure and licked it afterwards in apology, a reaction to my gasp, but I didn't care. We were groaning and gasping together, rocking against each other trying to create the much-needed friction that we craved.

I loved it. Everything about it. I loved the feel of his hands on me, of his heat pressed against mine, the muscles tensing and relaxing under my fingers, the shiver he gave when I brushed in between his last two ribs on his right side – everything.

Then he was kissing down my chest, obviously memorising the sensitive spot from last time, and he licked it lightly at the same time as tracing his nails down my thighs.

I died and went to heaven.

My whole body reacted to his tongue and his hands, working together, bringing me to want him so badly it was almost painful – painful in the best way possible.

But something went off in the back of my mind, and I _very_ reluctantly pried his hands away from me, causing him to look up. His confusion was clear even in the dim light, but it had to be done. I had been planning it from the beginning, but I kept getting… distracted. He often did that.

"Naruto…"

He leaned in close to kiss me lightly before saying a little breathlessly, "No, Sasuke, I already said I'd only take it so far, so don't –"

"No." I shook my head, a little offended that he thought I would push him. "I didn't mean that."

"Then what…?"

I pushed him back down against my pillows slowly, touching his cheek lightly before running my hands down his chest, tracing small patterns until I reached the waistband of his boxers.

"Naruto," I said again. "You told me before that you didn't care what I did as long as I was the one who did it." I dipped my fingers under the elastic once, twice, all the while following the path my hands made with my lips. "So stop tending to me. It's your turn."

And with that I dipped my tongue into his bellybutton quickly, experimenting, seeing how he would react. His stomach muscles clenched and one of his hands found their way to touch my shoulder in what I took to be permission to keep going and a sort of agreement to what I said before. I didn't want him to be pleasuring me, which looked to be the way it was going, if he was the one who came around here looking for it. Sure I'd been trying to control myself around him for a while now, but I had to put him first, and he needed it more than I did.

I let my fingers grip the elastic of his boxers, tugging it lightly, again giving him a chance to protest before I went further than his comfort zone would allow. And again no protests came, so I slid them down, freeing him from the constraints of the fabric entirely. I heard him draw in breath sharply, the hand on my shoulder squeezing tight.

I looked up once, waiting for him to meet my eyes, and when he nodded I smirked, ducking my head down and making sure he forgot anything that had happened with whoever he'd been with previously, willingly or not.

And by the sounds he was making, I think I succeeded.

--

I blinked angrily in the sunlight that so rudely assaulted my eyes at such an early hour, and rolled over to hide from it. Why hadn't I shut my curtains? I'd need to smack myself for that one later.

Once I figured out why there was someone else in my bed.

My eyes snapped open again as my arm hit something warm and solid that felt remarkably like skin. The thing, also skin-coloured, seemed to disappear into my blankets, where a giant tuft of blonde spikes stuck out.

Oh.

The blonde tuft moved around a little.

_Oh_.

Naruto stuck his head out of the blanket, blinking blearily and glaring at the sunlight.

… No, I couldn't help that smile.

He seemed a little confused as to where he was once he'd finished silently telling the sun exactly what he thought of it and where it could go, but then he saw me and a little blush crept along his cheeks. He wriggled closer and mumbled a half-arsed good morning before tucking his head against my shoulder and yawning widely.

"Had a good sleep?" I asked.

He grinned and nodded. "Did I ever. What's the time?"

I lifted my head a little to see past his hair and look at the clock. "Ten."

Naruto sighed. "S'too early." He lifted his head up for a second to frown at me, and wriggled closer to me. "C'mere, teme."

I raised an eyebrow. "Naruto, Uchiha's don't 'snuggle'."

He scowled and drew me in closer. "They do now, bitch."

I snorted shook my head, pushing him away a little and saying, "I gotta get up."

He stared at me in disbelief, then narrowed his eyes. "You always spoil the moments. You know that, don't you?"

I shrugged and leaned forwards to kiss him quickly on the lips before he pushed me away with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, so you won't snuggle but you'll kiss me with morning breath?"

"Yes."

He rolled his eyes and pushed himself up to a sitting position, scratching the back of his head and giving another huge yawn. He cast his eyes around for his boxers, eventually finding them conveniently close by on the other side of my bedside table, and quickly ducked out to slip them on, making sure he had his back to me the whole time.

I sighed at his shyness as he headed over for my chest of drawers and asked sleepily, "What're you doing?"

"I know you like your sleep in the morning and I figured the only reason you said you had to get up was so that you could think. You've been pissy lately so I'm not game enough to stop you, so I'm having a shower first and you can brood in the good old Uchiha fashion. Be happy when I get back. I'm stealing your clothes."

I gave a short laugh to cover my surprise at how right he was, and he looked over his shoulder to grin at me, pulling out some tracksuit pants and an old t-shirt and making his way back over to me. He leaned down and kissed me lightly before turning tail and heading out the door to the bathroom, supposedly leaving me to think.

Which I was thankful for.

As soon I heard the bathroom door close I lifted my hands to cover my face and breathed in deeply, held it, and let it out again.

Last night was… well, it was great, but it took all my self control not to get too carried away. I knew right from the start that nothing drastic would happen, but still, we broke through another physical barrier between us, and… God, corny as it sounded, I could kind of feel the change.

Before I thought he seemed a little withdrawn when it was just us alone together, and when things got heated I could always tell that he was worried we would get carried away, but now… We were naked in bed and he didn't bat an eyelid, basically.

Sure he'd been a bit shy once he'd gotten out, but I probably would've been too. We were with someone new, and everything was something different for him.

But I could tell now that he wanted exactly what I did. Last night was proof of that.

After I'd done my bit at making him forget everything, he'd returned the favour and my _God_ was he talented. He'd been nervous as all hell first, but he always said he was a fast learner, and I couldn't agree more. A couple of pointers from me and away he went, taking his own initiative and rendering me senseless.

I knew he was just as desperate as me, but whether last night was because he wanted to get rid of the 'Orochimaru stench', as such, I didn't know. I had to talk to him, though, I had to find out how far he was willing to take this, or else nothing would happen and we'd both be left wondering.

I thought for a moment, counting in my head until I realised that in one week we would have been together for two months, which meant that in a month and a week I would be leaving.

_If_ I left.

I groaned and shoved the heel of my palm into my eyes.

Nevertheless, I refused to leave without having at least spoken to Naruto, established whether it could happen or not. Before it was a matter of not wanting to scare him away with my forwardness, but now it was a matter of pushing too early. I knew he wanted it the same as me, but I didn't know if he was ready to go that far yet.

I stared at the roof for what seemed like hours, but was probably only ten minutes, rolling through all a manner of different scenarios in my head. It took me a while to realise that the shower had turned off and there was noise coming from the kitchen.

Naruto must've gotten hungry.

I chewed on my lip thoughtfully, trying to determine when would be the best time to bring it up.

… I should have a shower first. I couldn't rock up in either nothing or just my boxers and ask him for sex. Sure I was tactless occasionally, but _jeez_, give me some credit here.

I heaved myself out of bed with another wide yawn, cursing mornings and everything they brought with it (aside from an adorably sleepy Naruto), and slipped on the first thing I saw out of my drawers, not particularly caring too much but apparently I was wearing tracksuit pants. I headed off to the bathroom, smiling faintly at the sound of Naruto belting his lungs out from the kitchen, obviously taking advantage of the fact that my brother wasn't here to tell him off.

"Don't break anything!" I shouted out before closing the door. Couldn't have an angry Itachi now, could we?

I stripped down and stepped under the steaming water, still deciding between now or later. If I mentioned it now I would have the advantage of last night's memories, but there was also the possibility that he would think I was jumping to conclusions _because_ of last night and would therefore tell me to get stuffed.

If I left it until later then… well, there probably wouldn't be any harm in leaving it until later, except that something might happen in between now and then that would result in it not happening at all.

So… when it all came down to it, later was probably better, but I knew I'd do it now. I couldn't really hold back any more. I know I may seem a little pathetic because you know, only two months and I'm already pushing to go this far, but… it was _Naruto_. Wasn't that explanation enough?

I finished scrubbing myself down and reluctantly stepped out of the shower. It was so… warm… No, I had a mission, and I had to do it before I lost my nerve.

A loud clanging interrupted my thoughts and I frowned as I tugged my pants back on, Realising I hadn't brought a shirt with me. Hm… maybe asking him half naked wasn't a great idea either. I shrugged. Oh well.

"Naruto?" I called out, opening the bathroom the door and towelling my hair.

"It wasn't me!"

I would've smiled if I wasn't about to ask him the Ultimate Question, but frowned deeper instead, putting the towel back and heading out to the kitchen… where Naruto was standing covered in flour from head to toe, oven mitts on both hands and a frying pan in one, a look of total shock on his face. There was a mixing bowl on the ground, a giant crack dividing it, and quite a large amount of milk covering the floor.

He lifted his wide eyes to me, opening and closing his mouth several times before sneezing a little and whispering, "Shit."

I snorted and crossed my arms. "I guess you could say that. What'd you do?"

He looked around the kitchen briefly, assessing the damage, and turned back to me. "I – I don't know. I was hungry and figured you must be too so I wanted to make us some pancakes, and I put the mitts on 'cos I thought they looked funny, then I went to pick up the bowl with one hand but it slipped and…"

I'm sure he said something else, but to be honest I wasn't really listening. I was making a speech that sounded a lot more glorious and heartfelt and didn't involve flour at all when it was in my head, but came out a little like this…

"NarutoIwannahavesex."

"And then _wham_ it was on the floor and on me and whoa it's everywhere _what_?!" He finally caught on, and the frying pan in his hand crashed to the floor to join everything else, his mouth hanging completely open.

"You want to _what_?"

* * *

**(1) - **My brother did this to me once… It's funny, but a lot scarier than it sounds.

Sasu-chan was starting to get very uke there…. o.O I didn't mean it, but for me it just felt like it was better that way. I want their relationship to be very half-half, without definite roles or crap like that, so I'm hoping I got that across… And yes, I know I cut it off. Don't think I'm up for writing that stuff yet. Maybe in future stories…? –blushes-

Uh, and I'm making NO guarantees with chapter 15. I'm currently battling the flu, an ear infection in both ears, and an eye infection that's threatening to go to my other eye as well. Yeah, I think that warrants a little time off. Just getting my arse out of bed to update was a pain, so please, no shooting! :P I'll try my utmost to have it out by next week, but if it's not then there's definitely a reason. Sorry in advance if I don't! I will try though!

Reviews are still lovely :)


	15. Snuggle, Bitch

Aaw, thanks for the get well messages, everyone :) They brightened my day just that little bit more and made me smile. Well I'm alive, to say the least, and finally over the sudden dumping of a thousand and two kinds of illnesses. This chapter might come out a little disjointed at times because, you know, death, but I tried!

And **Hilarious Tragedy**, your review made me laugh so hard I was coughing for ages afterwards. Nice to know you care XP Hahaha.

Serirai-chan is a legend yet again (chapter title is credit to her). Without her this chapter would've been super crap and lots of bits later on probably wouldn't have happened. Or wouldn't be… yet to… happen… Yeah, I get it.

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

15. SNUGGLE, BITCH

I uncrossed my arms and jammed my hands into my pockets, getting a little uncomfortable. I should have known he'd object to the idea straight away, I mean, it _was_ new ground for him after all. Not that that's a bad thing, just that he'd probably be more opposed to it than I would.

"Sorry, I just… I was thinking, and yeah… Don't worry about it, forget I said anything."

I shouldn't have said it. I shouldn't have mentioned it at all, not even as a joke. I shouldn't have pressured him, now it was never going to happen and he would be afraid to be alone with me and it would be awkward and _argh_ what have I done?

I gave him a small smile and quickly turned away and out of the kitchen, ducking back into my room and closing the door. I sat on my bed and shoved my head into my hands with a groan.

Stupid stupid _stupid_.

It was all too fast for him, I should have _known_ that. I knew waiting until later was better, but I was impatient and had to go and ruin it by saying it now, didn't I?

I flopped onto my back and glared at the roof, still cursing myself. A good ten minutes passed without me even moving a finger, wallowing in my own stupidity and running through all different – _better_ – scenarios in my head, before there was a timid knock at the door.

I sat up straight away. "Yeah?" My voice wasn't supposed to sound that small.

It opened and in walked a now clean but no less embarrassed Naruto. He hovered by the door, not bothering to close it seeing as we were the only ones home, and shuffled his feet.

"I, uh, cleaned up the kitchen for you."

I nodded. "Thanks."

"Have to wait for the pancakes though…"

"That's okay."

"…Cool…"

He shrugged and stared down at his feet, still shifting uncomfortably. I sighed, realising we were going to get nowhere unless one of us took the initiative, and so patted the mattress in front of me, inviting him to sit down. He looked hesitant for a moment before seeming to realise that just because I'd _mentioned_ sex didn't mean I was necessarily going to jump him the first chance I got, and so slowly came to sit down, folding his legs underneath him.

He rubbed the back of his neck in a well-known nervous gesture and looked sheepishly across at me.

"Look, teme…"

"I'm sorry."

We both started at the same time, then gave a nervous chuckle. I inclined my head towards him, indicating he could go first. He picked at a loose thread on my sheets, my bed still unmade, and rested his elbow on his thigh, chin in his palm.

"Uh… well…"

I leaned forward a tiny bit. "Well…?"

"I don't know what to say except for 'duh'."

I snorted. "Nice."

He sort of smiled and sighed a little. "And I guess… I guess yeah, I kinda want to too, but you know… I need time to think, to get used to it, and don't get me wrong, last night was… well," he blushed a little and I smiled, not wanting to interrupt. "I think you know how _that_ was, but at the moment I think that's all I can do. Like… gah this is hard to say… I mean that I _want_ to, yeah, but there's other things I think I have to get over first, and last night was the first step. I know you won't push me into it, so…"

He trailed off, looking at me as if asking me if he was right in the assumption.

"So you'll come to me when you're ready and we'll go from there," I said finally.

He smiled and nodded, reaching out to put a hand on my knee. "Thanks, teme."

I smiled faintly, not really knowing what to feel. It was great that he wasn't mad at me for suggesting it so early, that was for sure, but now there would be that sense of uncertainty every time something happened between us. Would now be the time to go all the way? Is he ready now? How far do I take it? All that kind of stuff, and it would probably make things awkward.

Naruto seemed to understand the creasing of my brow, and said, "I'll tell you, teme. You'll know."

I breathed a little easier then, content with the answer. I smiled the best I could across at him and held my arm out, inviting him in.

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought Uchihas didn't snuggle?"

I raised one of my own. "They do now, bitch."

Naruto looked a little stunned for a moment, watching me sceptically, before he snorted and giggled. Yes, giggled. He slid forwards and tucked himself under my arm, throwing his own arm around my waist and squeezing me lightly.

"I knew you were a softie at heart," he smiled.

"Hn."

He hit me playfully. "I've learnt by now that that's your answer when you don't have an answer, which means you know I'm right, which means you don't have a comeback for that, which means I win, which means _you_ '"

"Dobe?"

"Yep?"

"Do you ever stop talking?"

"Yep."

I snorted in disbelief. "Oh really? When?"

"When I'm eating."

"No you don't."

He paused for a second, acknowledging that I had a fair point. "True, but –"

"That was a hint, if you didn't catch that," I sighed.

He grinned up at me. "Oh I caught it. Then I threw it out the window."

I rolled my eyes and couldn't stop a chuckle, bringing the arm that was around his waist up briefly to ruffle his messy hair. There were still bits of flour in it.

"You're an idiot."

He shrugged. "Bah, whatever. I'll stun the world into silence with my intelligence one day."

I was going to give another noncommittal 'hn', but decided to just let him think I agreed and leave it at that. Silenced was a rare and precious thing when the dobe was around, and I wasn't willing to ignore the given opportunity. So I simply let the conversation die and drew him closer by the arm around his shoulders, kissing the top of his head.

"Sorry," I whispered.

Naruto was quiet for a moment before he mumbled into my chest, "There's nothing to be sorry for."

I had a sudden urge to tell him how much I appreciated and admired him, before mentally kicking myself. I'd probably scare him away forever if I ever let it slip that I genuinely respected him… Uchihas didn't 'respect' people, as such.

But I did. In all seriousness, he was probably the strongest person I knew. Not physically, of course, Sakura took the cake for that side of things, but in the emotional sense… yeah, I'd say he was pretty up there.

I brought my left arm around, the one lying by my side, and traced the back of his hand lightly, smiling a little when he twitched. I lifted it up and linked our fingers, running my thumb back and forth along the knuckle of his index finger.

"Teme…" Naruto mumbled.

"Hm?"

"Why do you have an obsession with my hands?"

I shrugged. "They're nice. Why do you have an obsession with my waist?"

"It's nice."

"Hn," was all I said, but I did appreciate it. Now I could add 'nice waist' to my every-growing list of good points.

A few minutes of comfortable silence passed, enough time for me to realise that I wasn't cold despite not wearing a shirt, and I knew it wasn't because Naruto was snuggling up to me. I'd left the heating running all night again. Oops. I got a little fidgety and was about to regretfully push a now half-asleep Naruto off me and go switch it of, when I remembered his remark earlier about me being the 'moment ruiner'… And so I figured, why not? Why not just deal with it and worry about Itachi's reaction later? Not like there'd be a high likelihood of him finding out, anyway. Then again, he did have an uncanny ability to know things you didn't want him to… Feh.

I smiled to myself and snuggled further into Naruto. Yes, I was snuggling, and I am unashamed to admit it. The comfortable silence lasted all of ten minutes, which I suppose is quite an achievement, and just as my eyelids were getting unbearably heavy, Naruto's stomach rumbled. I rolled my eyes when he didn't even shift, realising he must've fallen asleep, and poked him lightly in the arm.

He still didn't budge, so I poked him a bit harder.

Still nothing.

"Naruto," I said, not too loud in case I scared him.

He mumbled something incomprehensible.

"Hey, dobe. Wake up."

"Hm? Why?" His voice was a barely audible mumble, his face shoved into my chest. His breath tickled me a little and I tried my best not to squirm.

"Because you're hungry and so am I. I do recall something being said about pancakes earlier on, though."

His eyes opened at the mention of food, and his stomach helped me along by backing up my words with a particularly loud grumble. He looked up at me, a little embarrassed, and yawned widely.

"Yeah… yeah, okay." He seemed like he was talking more to his protesting stomach than to me.

He made a half-arsed attempt at getting up, shifting just a little before plopping back down, so I gave him a good hard shove to push him upright. He frowned at me, trying to lay back down, but I held him at arm's length.

"If you don't eat you're going to complain to me about being hungry, so get up and keep going where you left off."

"…Slave driver," he mumbled.

I laughed silently and shook my head. "I can't believe I'm actually trying to convince you to eat."

He sat back on his heels once I was sure he wasn't going to lie back down again and so dropped my arms, and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "It's not the eating I need convincing to do, it's the actual making before the eating. I can never be bothered with that. Ramen is so instant that you don't have to wait long, although… that two minutes can drag on for_ever_."

I sighed. "All right, I'll cook it with you."

He stayed expressionless for a second before getting a semi-evil glint to his eye. Only semi-evil because it's Naruto. Come on, how evil can that kid get? When he didn't look like he was going to announce the ideas currently forming in his mind, I decided to take a guess and shut him down.

"But I just had a shower and don't intend on needing another one, so to whatever you're thinking: no."

He pouted. "But –"

"Naruto."

"Ah, fine. Come on then, off to breakfast."

He held out his hand, tugging me up after him when I took it, and we walked out into the kitchen, Naruto grinning stupidly. I took a second to notice how clean it was after it got Naruto-ified, before he decided to proudly point it out to me.

"So I see," I said while trying to cover up a smile.

He just rolled his eyes at me. "Wouldn't kill to give a bit of praise now and then."

I smirked. "I know."

He looked at me expectantly but I just glanced around the kitchen again and said, "So, pancakes were mentioned?"

He 'hmph'ed and looked like he was going to say something back but thought better of it and turned instead to the stove, where the frying pan he dropped earlier and a bowl of pancake mix was waiting.

"I'm choosing to ignore that."

"I gathered." I leaned against the kitchen bench behind him and watched him spread the butter around the pan evenly before pouring a generous amount of mixture onto the pan.

"But… I was thinking…"

I folded my arms, getting a little nervous about where this would go. He had that tone of voice that said he was worried about bringing it up. "Mm?"

He evened out the mixture so it took up nearly all the pan. "Well… you never told me what Shisui said the other week. You just came back to school all shitty and didn't say anything about it."

I sighed. I knew it. But I couldn't tell him outright, I'd already told myself that; it'd get his hopes up for something I wasn't certain would happen yet, and I couldn't do that to him. But it wasn't only that, it was also the whole issue with revealing what Sharingan was actually about, how it operated and just _why_ Shisui didn't want me to take the job. If I explained all that, Naruto would let go of that famous temper of his and it wouldn't be pretty.

"I can't – I can't tell you…"

He flipped the pancake over. It was perfectly golden brown. He nodded. "Uh-huh. Why not?"

"Because I just can't. All I'll say is… keep telling me why I should stay." I bit my lip, regretting even saying that much because jeez, wasn't that a dead giveaway? But I reminded myself that we were dealing with Naruto, and he took a little while to cotton on to things like this.

"So he wants you to stay." Okay… maybe not. He took my silence as an affirmative. "Why?"

"Naruto…"

He sighed heavily and said, "Plates?"

"Wh- oh, right." I turned around and opened up the cupboard, taking out two plates and handing them over.

He slid the first pancake onto a plate and turned around to hand it to me, his face strangely blank, and faced the stove again, repeating the process. I took the plate given to me silently and walked around to the other side of the bench where I sat down heavily and stared down at my food, not hungry all of a sudden.

"Don't just stare at it, teme. I cooked it so you can at least eat it."

I looked up and smiled apologetically, reaching out for the lemon and sugar.

Naruto gave a barely audible sigh and turned off the stove before adding the mixture to the pan, walking across the kitchen to lean across the bench opposite me.

"Look, Sasuke, don't worry about it. If you can't tell me, you can't tell me, so don't stress. I understand, really. I know there's more going on than I thought, so…" he shrugged. "I'll deal with it. Either you go or you don't, but believe me, if I have a say in it you're not going anywhere," he finished with a grin.

I found myself smiling back a little stupidly and reached out to smack him in the side of the head. "Thanks, dobe."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied, and went back to the stove. "And I do have a say in it, don't I?'

I shrugged and said swallowed before saying, "I guess."

"Oh, you guess? Pssh. I do and you know it."

"Hn." Wow, these pancakes were really good.

"So… want more reasons to stay?"

I said nothing, too engrossed in the pancakes. They were _really_ tasty. I'm serious!

"Well you're gonna get 'em anyway."

I made an absent hum of agreement, not paying much attention. I probably should've been, but… yum.

"You know that _everyone_ is going to try talking Japanese to you. They'll most likely be learning it at that school if it's a posh one, so they're all going to want to practice. On you. With their _delightful_ accents. That's going to be fun, isn't it?"

That got my attention.

I groaned and smacked my palm against my forehead. "I _hate_ bad accents."

Naruto laughed. "I know you do." He finished cooking his own pancake to perfection and sat down next to me to eat it. "Hey… weren't you supposed to help?"

--

"He's impervious to _everything_, I swear it."

"You'll just have to try harder."

"I _am_ trying."

I tutted. "Gaara, you're the psychotic one everyone's terrified of. I think you can come up with something that'll make him at least marginally uncomfortable." I rolled my eyes. "And you were looking like you had a whole world of ideas at your feet on the weekend."

He crossed his arms and leaned on the table, a little hunched in the cold. God, winter felt like it went forever. Neji sighed opposite me.

"You think of something then, Uchiha."

I shrugged. "Don't have to. He's not my teacher."

"But it's for the greater good."

I snorted at Gaara. "Since when did you care about 'the greater good'?"

"Since I started failing to make someone uncomfortable."

"Fair enough…"

Gaara sighed a little pathetically, and I took half a second to be surprised that he was so affected by this until I realised that this was _Gaara_, and making people want to drop everything and run for their lives because he just might make them part ways with their limbs very slowly pretty much came as a gift to him.

He growled in frustration and punched the hard wood table. "He's impossible! You can't just go and wreck everything he does because that's what he _wants_ us to do, he enjoys a good argument, and he flirts or insults us right back. I've given the class a good talking to about what I expect of them and he's impervious to everything. He can see through it all. Funny, he's only got one eye."

"Must be a thing for one-eyed people to be incredibly sharp and annoying," I smirked.

"He makes up for his lack of sight in other ways, Gaara," Neji pointed out.

Gaara snorted. "Like how? Increasing his ego just that little bit more? Making people feel more inclined to kill him? Growing his hair longer?"

Neji rolled his eyes. "He's quite intelligent, you know."

"So? He's still a pain in the arse."

I resisted the urge to grin. Listening to them bicker made me feel comfortable somehow. At least I knew there was still some sense of normality in my life, no matter how vague.

"You don't quite get it, do you?" Neji almost scolded, talking to him like he was ten years younger.

"I don't see what there is to get."

"For an apparent genius, you're not very attentive. Not so great at the figuring things out part."

Gaara looked highly offended at the accusation. "I'm plenty good at figuring things out, Hyuuga."

Neji snorted and I thought that maybe I should intervene. With a knowing smirk on my face I held a hand up between them across the table and said, "Now, now, enough with the lover's spat, you two."

There was a tiny silence before they both glared daggers at me and Gaara crossed his arms. "You're hardly one to tell us about 'lover's spats', Uchiha, the way you and that loudmouth of yours carry on."

I rolled my eyes. "That's entirely beside the point now, isn't it? How about we get back to what we were talking about before, and Neji can actually tell you what he was thinking rather than you cutting him off and being childish."

Gaara was about to answer back with some incredibly scathing retort, no doubt, but Neji cut him off.

"Thank you. As I was _saying_," he looked sternly at Gaara. He sure was pulling out the motherly tones today. "You should use it against him."

Gaara raised a wannabe eyebrow. "Use what?"

"His intelligence. _Your_ intelligence."

The other eyebrow joined the one already raised.

Neji sighed in exasperation. "What is _wrong_ with you today? Usually you pick up on it right away."

Gaara shrugged. "I dunno, just… me and Hinata are… yeah. I don't know. Never mind, it doesn't matter. What were you getting at?"

I must say, Neji did a very good job of hiding that suddenly hopeful look in his eyes. Oh yes, I was right, as always. Hyuuga wanted Sabaku in the pants and didn't everyone know it. Probably even his cousin. Ah well, it didn't phase me whichever way it turned out, but I hoped Gaara could at least be nice about it when he went from one cousin to the other. Then again, it _was_ Gaara… no guarantees there.

But Neji hid his tiny little hopeful riot in his mind that was surely occurring right this very second, and simply shrugged, copying Gaara. "Just saying that he probably wouldn't take kindly to being outsmarted, or having something going on that he knew he was involved in but didn't understand."

Gaara looked thoughtful for a moment. "But… how?"

Neji hit his head on the hard wooden table.

I took it as my opportunity to finally have my say. "You're Gaara," I said simply.

"Well spotted."

I ignored him. "You'll think of something."

"Not if how he is today is anything to judge by," Neji mumbled.

I took the liberty of smacking the back of his head. Gaara snorted, nodding his head at me in gratitude. Neji looked up and scowled at me, clearly not appreciating the treatment. Feh.

Then something hit me, thankfully not Neji, and I turned to Gaara with my eyebrows raised. "Wait, he flirts back? You've flirted with him? You've lowered yourself to that already? It's only been a week."

He glared holes into the table while I smirked. What? It was hard to find something Gaara couldn't do aside from, well… being nice. The damn kid was good at everything else. Neji, though, Neji was smart, gorgeous, funny in a dry, sarcastic way, sociable, polite – basically, the day I stump him will mean my life was worth living.

His only drawback was his conviction that fate ruled the universe. It could get a little tiring at times.

"I've been given the opportunity to finally make a teacher's life hell and I plan to use every second given to me. If that means resorting to flirting after the first lesson, then I don't care. I want to make him so uncomfortable that he wants to rip my eyes out. Maybe he'll try and do it and then maybe he'll get kicked out."

I snorted. "You want your eyes ripped out?"

"You know what I mean, Uchiha," he growled.

I waved my hand. "Yeah, yeah. Jeez, don't take it so seriously."

I can't believe I just said that. I should hit myself. I'm the one probably taking it the most seriously here, yet I'm telling them to be more laid back about it? Nice.

"Why haven't you done anything yet?" Neji suddenly asked, voice accusatory. "We just had class with Sasori and you were your usual self. You're more in on this than any of us, you know."

I shrugged. "I'm hardly more involved. Gaara is too. Too many people are…" I added quietly with a frown.

Neji and Gaara raised their eyebrows at each other, but before they could ask me anything I continued.

"I don't want to add another blot to my record, anyway. Can't afford that the way I'm going."

"You mean the way your parents dictate?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't start, Hyuuga. You're not part of this."

He tch'ed. "Whatever. More to the point, what are you doing to help this? I know you want them out, probably more than us, but you're just sitting back and letting us be smartarses to them while Iruka and Kakashi-sensei do all the running around. You've got something up your sleeve."

I was quiet for a moment, drawing nonsense patterns on the tabletop with my index finger while my chin rested in the palm of my left hand. "I… I've got a feeling there's more to it."

Gaara snorted. "Obviously there's a shitload more to it that we can't know."

I shook my head, frowning. "No, that's not what I meant… I was wondering why Tsunade's still keeping them on. Naruto says she doesn't like any of them and is always bitching about them at home, so there has to be a reason."

Gaara was silent, withdrawing into his own thoughts, while Neji just shrugged and said, "Blackmail, obviously."

I sighed heavily and clenched the hand that was drawing on the table into a fist. "But what are they _using_ for blackmail?"

That stumped him. And my life is worth living!

Gaara spoke up after a moment, a thoughtful frown on his face. "I… I can talk to Dr. Chiyo… I have an appointment with her Sunday afternoon about, you know, so I can try and find something out then. Tsunade used to work at the hospital, right?"

I nodded. "She fills in now and then."

He set his mouth in a thin line of determination, standing up just as the bell went and a loud "Teme-e-e!" came floating across from a couple of tables away.

I couldn't help smiling a little to myself, but did a good job of hiding it, and gave them all a look that said we'd continue the conversation later before turning around just in time to catch Naruto in a bone-crushing hug.

I heard them both chuckling behind me but I chose to ignore it.

"Teme, you have history now. You told me not to let you be late again, so get your arse into gear and get your stuff." He exhaled loudly and grinned. "Good, I've told you. Now you can't tell me off."

I snorted and pulled away to ruffle his hair. "Nice, dobe, nice."

--

"Soo… where we goin'?" Naruto sing-songed from the bathroom just across the hall from his bedroom.

I stood from his bed and walked over to the doorway, able to see him reflected in the mirror. I shoved my hands in the pockets of my black jeans and shrugged, leaning against the doorframe. "You'll see."

He frowned at me through the mirror and paused in spiking his hair into every direction imaginable. "It's not somewhere horrible, is it?"

"Of course it is," I said with a sarcastic snort.

"Oh God, you're not taking me to see that new horror movie, are you?"

He spun around in panic, eyes wide, and I kept my face carefully blank as I said, "I thought you liked horror movies?"

"No!"

"But… Battle Royale?"

"That's gore. I can deal with gore. It's the supernatural stuff I can't handle."

"Oh…" I let my eyes drop to the ground, trying my utmost to keep the smirk off my face.

"You didn't get tickets already, did you?" He asked, taking a few steps forward so he was leaning on the bathroom door apprehensively.

"Well…" I bit my lip and looked back up at him, trying to seem apologetic while on the inside I was laughing cruelly. How long could I convince him I was taking him to see people's heads ripped off by invisible beings? At the very least, it'd be fun seeing him squirm.

Yes, I still enjoy making him uncomfortable. What? He's cute when he's flustered.

"You did?" Oh, uh, then I'll go, definitely!" he tried to look positive and flashed me a huge smile that clearly didn't have any feeling behind it, and actually came out almost more like a painful grimace.

I frowned. Okay, flustered Naruto was amusing, but fake Naruto was unsettling, and it reminded me of how he was before he realised it was easier to just _tell_ me what was wrong instead of hiding it.

I sighed, taking the last few steps towards him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Or…"

His eyes lit up a little and he looked hopeful. "Or…?"

I smiled. "Or I could take you out for ramen and we could just go to the park, hm?"

He looked like he was about to crack a huge grin at the realisation that we weren't actually going to see people being disembowelled and attacked from all angles by horrible creatures, when it suddenly changed into a half-arsed scowl and he smacked me on the head. Hard.

"Teme!" he shouted, right in my ear.

I winced, rubbing the sore spot just above my left ear where he'd hit me. It felt a little sticky. Great, now I had gel in my hair when I'd avoided using it just for Naruto's benefit. "What was _that_ for?"

"All that getting me worked up for nothing, you arse. You enjoy watching me squirm, don't you?"

I shrugged, still rubbing my head, and didn't bother replying. He knew the answer anyway.

He rolled his eyes at my silence and looked at me critically, head tilted to one side. "How have I managed to put up with you for two months already?"

I raised an eyebrow, keeping my face perfectly blank as I said, "Because I'm awesome."

"And I thought _I_ was the conceited one here," he snorted.

I smiled faintly and tapped his chin to get him to look at me before he turned away to finish off his hair, even though it was almost identical to when I'd gotten here despite the ridiculous amount of gel he'd added to it.

"Or maybe it's because you know we're worth it. I've put up with you this long because I want to, and because I enjoy being with you."

He was silent for a moment, looking at me lopsidedly again. "You know, you've surprised me so much already," he murmured.

"How so?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line, trying to put his thoughts into words. "I don't know… I thought it'd be hard getting to know you properly, you know. I thought it'd be an absolute bitch just getting into a proper conversation with you. A couple of days after we started going out I had this huge panic attack thinking I'd gotten myself into something huge that I couldn't handle, just because it was _you_ and I really knew nothing about you despite that entertaining little game we were playing, except that you had some crazy shit going on. But then… I dunno, it was a lot easier than I thought it'd be. You're caring and fun and good to talk to. A little strange and intense at times, yes, but… but I like you like that, all your anger and hatred thrown in there too. It's you."

Yes, my heart did that stupid little teenage fluttering thing it does when someone you lo-_really like_ gives you such meaningful compliments. I bit my lip, fighting a little blush that tried to make its way onto my cheeks. I won.

"And I like you exactly how you are as well, ramen obsession, conceitedness, stupidity, the way you insist on shouting – everything. Even the way you _refuse_ to hate."

He gave me a huge grin then, a real one, throwing his arms around my neck and squeezing dangerously tight. "Thanks, teme," he whispered into my neck.

And the moment would've been a lot nicer if he didn't have gel all over his hands.

"You have gel on your hands."

He chuckled and pulled away a little sheepishly, turning back to the mirror and applying the finishing touches. "Again with the moment-ruining."

I snorted. "That was hardly a 'moment'."

"It so was!"

"Sure."

I watched him try to frown at me through the mirror again but ended up smiling instead, and I shook my head sadly at him. He was such a dork.

"Your hair really does look good down, you know."

I shrugged, still feeling a little uncomfortable on the rare days I just left it to do its own thing, and a hand unconsciously came up to play with the soft hair at the back of my head. "So I've been told…"

He washed his hands, satisfied that his hair made him look like he'd intentionally put his finger in a toaster and come out stylish, and turned back around, reaching out a hand and beckoning me over to him. I went willingly, and closed my eyes when he ran both hands through my hair after looping his arms around my neck.

"See? I can do this without getting my fingers stuck if you leave it out."

I made a hum of approval, unable to refrain from leaning into the touch. "I guess I'll leave it out more often then."

I didn't have to look to know he was smiling when he said, "I guess you will," and wasn't entirely surprised when he kissed me softly.

My hands came to rest on his waist, and I pushed a thumb under his (orange) t-shirt to stroke his skin lightly as our lips moved together slowly, not asking for more. His hands stayed tangled within my hair as he pulled away with a smile and a small sigh. He looked like he was about to say something when there was a shout from one of the various rooms in the house. It sounded like it was coming from the other end of the hall, probably one of the larger, lounge-type rooms, judging by the way it carried.

"I will _not_ have them here any longer!" It was a woman's voice, and I immediately recognised Tsunade.

I glanced sharply at Naruto, still only centimetres away, but he gave me no response other than his lips pressing together and his brow furrowing slightly, almost like he was concentrating.

"But Tsu-" That was a male's voice I didn't fully recognise, but I knew I'd heard it somewhere before. Probably Jiraiya.

"No, Jiraiya, _no_! I kept telling myself I could stick it out for another four months, just until the end of the school year, but I _can't do it_!"

"They've got nowhere else to go!"

"You and I both know there are plenty of places to go."

"The school gives them safety they can't get anywhere else."

"But I don't know _why_ they need safety! You won't tell me!"

"I can't, you know –"

"You aren't the only one with the right to know. You're not the only one who grew up with him, Jiyaiya, but you are the only one stupid enough to have kept chasing him when you knew he was a lost cause!"

Naruto was chewing his bottom lip now, worry clear in his eyes. I resumed the work of my thumb, back and forth along his hips bone reassuringly.

"Naruto…"

He shook his head to silence me. "No, I want to hear this."

I nodded, understanding, but I felt wrong listening to someone else's parents argue. I perked up when I heard the name of who they were arguing about though, and lost all concern for feeling rude.

"You know Orochimaru's a lost cause and don't you _dare_ try and tell me otherwise. He hasn't told you what's been happening at school, has he? Didn't you wonder why I was so adamant about keeping him away and then one day I suddenly changed my mind?"

Jiraiya sounded exhausted. "I thought you came to your senses…"

"My _senses_?" Tsunade was almost hysterical by now. "It's because I _know_ things about him, Jiraiya, him and his little lap dog freak. You want to know, huh? You want to know why you always tell me Naruto's having nightmares and you can't sleep because of it? You want to know what those 'nightmares' really are?!"

Naruto drew in a sharp breath as there was a moment of silence between the fighting couple, and I pulled him in closer, pressing his head against my chest and holding him tight.

I didn't want him to hear this.

"What are you trying to say? What does Naruto have to do with anything?"

He shouldn't have to hear this.

Tsunade laughed, almost sounding insane. "Oh it's not just our nephew, oh no. My students as well, Jiraiya, my _students_. Oh there's so much you don't know!"

"Then tell me!"

"Why don't you tell me why the hell I have to put up with them?"

"_I can't_!"

"Well he thought I couldn't tell you. He thought he had me pinned but I'm telling you now because I think you have a right to know. As Naruto's uncle and as my husband, you have a right to know – exposure be damned and yes you know what I'm talking about, don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what I'm risking if he finds out."

There was a mumbled response before Tsunade screeched again.

"I don't want to hear it! Don't tell me it wasn't my fault – I know what happened! I can't –"

"Tsunade, calm _down_. I'm sorry, just… just calm down. Tell me about Naruto. Tell me why you're so worked up. What happened?"

More silence, and I figured Tsunade must have been getting her breath back.

I could feel Naruto's heart thumping wildly against my chest, and I'm sure mine was much the same. I tightened my hold around him, as if trying to protect him from the words. But there was nothing I could do – he said wanted to hear it so I had to assume he would be okay with it. And if he wasn't… if he wasn't, I would be here for him. I had to be.

"You want to know?"

"I want to know why you're dragging our nephew into this, yes!" He sounded a little panicky, almost like he had a vague idea of the truth but was too afraid to say it out loud just yet.

"Well I want to know why _they_ have to be in _my_ school. I want to know what they're hiding from, because if they didn't need protection before, they're sure as hell going to need protecting from me and Shizune as soon as they're out. And I want to know why _you_ can't tell me what's going on. I want to know how he's got you trapped."

There was an answer, but it was too quiet for us to hear.

"Oh that's bullshit, Jiyaira, don't try that one on me. Three-way blackmail doesn't work, damnit! You know what I'm risking, you know how important it is to me and how much it hurts but I'm still doing it because I _respect_ you. I respect you and I respect Naruto and I respect my _students_. I will find out, you know I will, and when I do it better be a damn good reason, you hear me?! Maybe when you know you'll be inclined to shed some light on your side."

Another mumbled response, and Naruto's grip on the front of my shirt tightened considerably. He buried his head into my chest and I had to seriously fight the urge to cover his ears for him.

Tsunade must have hissed the answer or something, because next thing we knew Jiraiya was shouting loudly about how it was ridiculous and he couldn't, wouldn't, believe it, before Tsunade cut him off angrily.

"And you want to know something else? Just the other week, maybe just on a month ago now, he tried to rape our nephew's boyfriend. Yes, boyfriend, and don't you dare give me that look because I swear I will walk right out of this house and take Naruto with me."

"But – you – when the hell was I going to find this out?!"

Tsunade chose to ignore him. "That's not all, either. He's decided to perform a play, with Naruto and Uchiha as the main subjects. You've been to see his plays. I'll let your imagination take it from there."

A slight pause. "Look, I don't –"

"You don't what? You don't care enough about… about _us_, our life, family – any of that? You don't care enough to simply _tell_ me why they're there so we can do something about it once and for all? I've told you what's happening despite the possible consequences for me if he finds out, which I know he will."

"But… Naruto has –"

"Oh for God's _sake_! Does Naruto mean _nothing _to you?! I've just told you what Orochimaru does to him and all you can think about is the fact that he has a _boyfriend_! That's not important, Jiraiya! What is important is that your 'friend' is endangering _my_ students. He's disgusting, he's wrong, he shouldn't be allowed within 100 kilometres of a child for the rest of his life, but because he has _you_ pinned, _I_ can't do anything about it! How is that fair? How is that right?!"

More mumbled replies, and Naruto was breathing heavily against me. His heart was beating even faster, harder, and I brought a hand up to rub his neck softly, trying to tell him that it was okay. We both knew it wasn't, but sometimes it was nice to pretend.

It wasn't good for him to hear this, being discussed and argued about like he wasn't here. And Tsunade knew he was here. She came in earlier asking what time we were leaving and to tell us to be careful. But they still argued, no care for how loud they were being or if he could hear them.

I tightened my arms around him briefly before pulling away, only to be crushed back and held on to for dear life.

"I'm not leaving, Naruto. I'm taking you with me. You should –"

"I don't care what I should and shouldn't be doing. I want to hear this and you're going to hear it with me, so stay right where you are." There was definitely a bit of Tsunade's forcefulness behind that tone.

I was just forming a reply when Tsunade herself cut me off.

"He's going, Jiraiya! He's leaving the school, the house, our lives – everything. I will _not_ have any more to do with him or his follower and I don't care what you have to say about it!"

"Don't be stupid!" Jiraiya roared back, finally putting some force behind his words. "I've kept quiet all this time for _you, _damnit! Our lives are in danger if we say anything. _Nothing can be done_!"

"You're not doing it for me. Cut the crap. The Department of Education would love to know what kind of sickos I'm employing, I'm sure."

"He'd know it was you."

"My students and _our_ nephew come first."

"Tsunade, you can't –"

"I can and I will."

"Please, just… just let me talk to him."

"Oh damn you and your pathetic promises, Jiraiya. I've had to sit in my office listening to complaint after complaint about those three, and it's hurt me so much to know what I'm putting Naruto and now a couple of his friends through. They've had to suffer because I was too weak, so now I'm throwing caution to the wind and standing up for myself and my family, which is more than I can say for you. Until you can grow a goddamn backbone, I'm staying in Suna. I'll drive all the damn way to work, I don't care. I _refuse_ to be around him any longer than I have to. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to apologise to our nephew for your total lack of care."

* * *

Um… was that a good spot to cut it off? I didn't really want to add more because that would drag it out too much, but… the plot's getting better, ne? A little more … plottish XP Finally we see Jiraiya!! -dances-

So, next chap is half-written and _should_ be up in a week. If it's not, then I've died due to homework overload (I was sick during my assessment weeks), but I will definitely do my best. -defiant nod- hmph.

Revieeeeewwwssss XD


	16. I Like Boys

**EDIT:** Okay, I'm apologising profusely and bowing like crazy here guys. I'm sick yet again and there's a possibility it's glandular fever, so I'm postponing So He's My Boyfriend, Right indefinitely. It hurts to say it, but I honestly don't think there'll be an update for a veeery long time. I _will_ finish this story, no doubts about that, but I've been very stressed lately along with being sick, and freaking about how the hell I'm going to spit out a whole chapter a week isn't helping.

You have no idea how sorry I am, but it's pretty much impossible for me to write anything now. Chapter 17 might not be up for a few months, but it _will_ be up eventually.

I think I'm going to write the rest of the story before updating, because at the moment I'm forcing myself to write and that's resulting in me losing interest in the story, which I _really_ don't want to happen. If I can write at my own pace and not worry about it for a while, I think it will come out a lot better. I seem to have lost a bunch of readers/reviewers and I'm hoping to take a step back and fix this story properly so that it's awesome again.

I hope you can all stick with me, and I love you all for staying up until now. All you reviewers have pretty much been the only things keeping me going :) So thank you repeatedly, and I will try my best to get over this stupid sickness/glandular fever/virus/whatever-the-hell-it-is so that I can finally give you the completed So He's My Boyfriend, Right!

Oh, and I missed my train last time, haha. My English teacher wasn't impressed XD

* * *

Eep! I was stressing because my internet died again (stupid living in the hills with lots of trees falling on phone lines), but thankfully it came back yesterday so I could update.

Um… long chapter (I think)! Woot! And everything seems to be going along nicely in drama/plot/thingsarehappening!world XD But I'm still having issues with the getting it _out_ of my head and _onto_ the paper. Eeew.

And I'm so about to miss my train.

**Previous disclaimers apply**.

* * *

16. I LIKE BOYS

As soon as I stepped inside I slammed the door. Itachi's head snapped up from the couch and he frowned.

"Honestly, Sasuke, can't you be considerate for once? I'm trying to take a nap and then _you_ come home slamming doors and huffing and don't just kick your shoes off! At least show some respect to the house. Line them up – thank you. I've decided I'm not cooking dinner tonight; the moons are out of alignment. I can't get my creativity flowing. There're some menus on the fridge for local takeaway restaurants, so you can take your pick. Same's in the fridge, don't ask him why, and my feet are a little cold. I think the heating broke, but you'd think you could say hi to your cousin despite that. Really, I'm a bit…"

I closed my bedroom door, shutting him out.

_That_ was something I wasn't in the mood to handle. Not by a long shot.

I flopped down onto my bed straight away and resisted the sudden urge to shout into my pillow. Why was everything so fucked up?!

I was planning to have a nice day with Naruto, just the two of us doing our own thing and enjoying each other's company (I'd even taken a day off work to be with him!), then his parents go and have a huge fight that renders him pretty much silent for the whole time.

He only ate one bowl of ramen.

End of the world? I thought so too.

I gave in to the urge, threw the Uchiha name on the ground for a moment, grabbed my pillow and shouted into it for all I was worth. I was just so damn _frustrated_!

Pulling my head back and breathing deeply to calm myself, I purposefully returned the pillow to its rightful place, rolled onto my back and laced my fingers behind my head. I was an Uchiha again, so it was time to think clearly. No more shouting into pillows and kicking shoes and slamming doors.

I had to _think_.

But it was all too freaking complicated.

I took another deep breath and pushed the heels of my palms into my eyes, trying to order myself to take a step back and _look_ at my information. I had to assess the situation and take note of my sources. I had to know what information came from where, and where more could possibly be gained. I had to organise what was going to happen once I got that information, who would do what and how they would do it.

I started with Tsunade.

She was being blackmailed by Orochimaru, which was why she was letting them stay at the school. There was something she was risking being found out by speaking up about it, so that something was obviously what Orochimaru was using as blackmail. If I found out what that was then it could definitely be used to my advantage. If we exposed her in a way that ensured she would not be harmed from it, depending on what it was, then there would no longer be a reason for her to keep Orochimaru and his friends in the school endangering her students and nephew, which was clearly her main concern.

Sakura was obviously the one to use for gaining information on Tsunade. Everyone knew that Tsunade used to be a very well-respected doctor until she quit and dedicated herself to running a school. There had to be a _reason _Tsunade just up and left, and Sakura would be the best person to use to find that out. She could access the files in the hospital and do some research, possibly with a little difficulty of course, but Sakura wasn't stupid. I didn't befriend stupid people.

And what she couldn't find out, Gaara could get out of Chiyo. That woman loved him, so there was no doubt she would tell him if he played innocent. Then again, Chiyo wasn't stupid either, but even if she caught on I didn't think she'd know anything else, and she wasn't one to ask questions.

So that was Tsunade sorted. I'd just have to get over my fear of getting other people involved, because it was going to have to happen. There was no other way around it if I wanted to get this whole fucked up situation fixed once and for all. It had started as something as small as just wanting to get a teacher fired for being a perverted freak to my boyfriend, to something as huge as… well, _this_.

Next was Jiraiya.

I brought a hand up in front of my face and held it above my head, just staring at it as I thought.

That was going to be a hard one. Honestly, I wasn't as concerned about him as I was about Tsunade, but there was clearly something going on with him, a reason that he forced Tsunade to take them on at the school.

I snorted to myself. Orochimaru probably threatened to reveal his enormous porn stash to the world. That would bring shame on the author. Then again, judging by what he actually wrote about… No, that would be pointless.

But Tsunade had said something about three-way blackmail, so maybe Jiraiya was protecting her?

I'd have to come back to him. I didn't think he'd have that much importance, but just in case, I had to know what was going on. I liked to know more than I had to, anyway. It was always good to have a backup plan.

Then there was Orochimaru, Sasori and Deidara.

I was going to split them up, then thought better of it. I'd only create more work for myself that way, and chances were that if I found out about one then I'd soon find out about the others.

Kakashi and Iruka were sorting that out, but they seemed to only know a bit about Sasori and Deidara, and there wasn't even a certainty that they could tell us what they discovered.

I frowned.

Like hell I was going to sit back and let them do all the work. I'd force it out of them somehow, but I _would_ know. I dropped my hand back behind my head. I would _definitely_ find out. No one almost-killed two of my closest friends and got off lightly, I didn't care how drunk or insane or whatever he was. I'd find out what the hell was going on with the both of them and I'd shove it in their faces.

Not a lot was mentioned about Orochimaru between Kakashi and Iruka, so maybe he had to be separated, which also meant I'd have to figure out a way to know what was happening on his side of town, too. There was no one I could use for that, damnit.

… I'm so _stupid_!

I sat up straight, smacking myself in the forehead with both palms, because I needed both, putting more emphasis on my utter _stupidity_ at not realising it sooner.

Just as my revelation hit me my bedroom door opened, and in walked the man I wanted to see the most in the world for probably the first time in my life.

"Shisui, sit down. I have to talk to you."

My cousin blinked slowly and leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms. He looked like such an Uchiha like that, all arrogant and I'll-do-whatever-I-want-thank-you-very-much. Hell, we were both Uchihas down to the bone, even my brother was in his rare (or strangely not so rare these days) state of normalcy.

"Do you now?"

I nodded firmly. "Yes."

He lifted an eyebrow. "You're quite rude today."

I nodded again. "Yes."

Shisui snorted. "Glad you can recognise it."

I chose to ignore the jibe and narrowed my eyes, telling him silently again to sit down. He narrowed his right back, and we had a war of sorts before he seemed to be just too tired to keep up the battle, so he was soon sitting on my desk chair, spinning it around to face me. He leaned his elbows on the armrests and folded his fingers, hiding his mouth behind them. Oh yes, he was a standard Uchiha, all in a nice, neat little package of arrogance.

"You haven't been around in a while," I commented idly, biding my time until I sorted out the proper wording in my head to ask him what I wanted.

He shrugged. "I've been here while you're at school, spending some quality time with your brother."

"No time with Itachi is quality time."

"You don't give him enough credit, Sasuke."

"And you don't live with him. I'm surprised he's still normal around you. It's just not right."

Shisui shifted a little uncomfortably, and I wouldn't have caught it if I was anyone else. "Yes, well, he wasn't last week."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"It was a bit surprising, to say the least. He's quite frightening when he's confused and angry."

I snorted. "No shit."

Shisui sighed a little unhappily and stared at me pointedly, mouth still covered by his hands. "Have you figured it out yet?"

Stupid Uchihas understanding other Uchihas too well. I glared. He glared. Oh this was hopeless.

"I need you to go through some stuff back home and see if you can find anything on someone for me."

Shisui smirked behind his hands and said nothing for a moment, making me wait for the answer. When he actually opened his mouth it was just to be a smartarse.

"You want to kick me out so soon, Sasuke? I'm hurt."

I scoffed. "You've been in town long enough, I think it's time you went back home and made yourself useful. You're doing no good here."

"Am I really? You seem to be a little more thoughtful these days, unless I'm much mistaken, and I think I know what you're thinking about."

I growled. "That's completely beside the point, all right. That's a conversation for another time, but right now I need you to do this for me."

Damn him. He knew he'd gotten through to that little tiny eighth of me that didn't want to go, and encouraged it to grow into a good three quarters by now. Arse. But it was perfect timing, really. He happened to try to convince me to stay just before all of this intricate stuff started coming up, so now on top of his little chat I had things that I felt I just couldn't turn away from. I had people to protect here, and I guess he'd made me think about that properly. I knew I had to at least see this through before I went anywhere.

Damn him and his stupid damn Uchiha intelligence and damn ability to read people and just ugh. It was so annoying belonging to such an intelligent family, sometimes.

"Of course, of course. But why do you want me to do this?"

"I want you to do it because this certain person is endangering some people very close to me, and I can't have that. He's blackmailing people to hide something, and I want to know what that something is. He's in a position that he shouldn't be in, not in a million years, and I want to get rid of him and his two friends. I _need_ to get rid of them."

Shisui nodded slowly, eyes staying locked on mine as he thought. I didn't dare look away. I couldn't. My heart was hammering in my chest with enough force to break my ribcage, it seemed, and I realised that if I had've done this sooner, maybe it all would've been over by now.

If I hadn't spent so much time screwing around and getting confused over things that seemed so straightforward, if I'd actually applied myself right from the start and realised that there _must_ have been more to it, taken the time to work out how I'd use my sources… God, if I'd done all that then I wouldn't be rethinking my decision yet again.

I'd have a safe Gaara and Sakura.

I'd have a safe, happy Naruto whose family wasn't desperately trying to cover up a secret anymore. I'd be okay leaving him, because I knew I wouldn't be leaving him with someone who would continue to hurt him, letting the pain eat away at his conscience until he either snapped or withdrew into himself.

It'd happen, I knew it would. Naruto wasn't as strong as he let on, but he was brave. He'd fight.

But if I'd done it sooner, I wouldn't have to worry about him.

Shisui suddenly interrupted my inner beating by saying quietly, "You're doing this for Naruto, aren't you?"

I said nothing, staring at him defiantly.

He chuckled. "I thought so. You would've made a good leader, you know. You would've run Sharingan well."

"I _might_ make a good leader," I corrected him forcefully, trying to sound confident. "I _might_ run Sharingan well."

Shisui shook his head slowly and continued as if he hadn't heard me at all. "Pity your heart's not in it, hey?"

And I was going to correct him again, but I really didn't think he was paying any attention to me at all now, so all I managed to say was something sounding like 'ekk' before he suddenly snapped back to his senses and ordered me to tell him everything.

And so I did.

Everything except Naruto's story, of course.

That was one secret I'd still keep with me.

--

He sighed down the line and I felt my heart twist a little. "So she's gone?"

"…Yeah."

I winced. "For how long?"

"I don't know." He sounded so flat, so empty.

I suppose he had a reason. His aunt had just up and left him alone with a disbelieving uncle and a freak who liked him just a little bit too much. I'd told him over and over again that he could stay here, but for some reason he said it would just cause more trouble. Jiraiya had been a little odd to him since Tsunade had spilled the beans about us, and he didn't think it was worth the trouble asking if he could stay with me. So he was with Kiba.

And funnily enough, I was perfectly fine with it. In fact, I was happy. More than happy. He wasn't at home, and that was all that mattered.

"Did Jiraiya say anything?"

"No… He just said she went to Suna, he didn't know how long, and looked really guilty and depressed and said he'd understand if I didn't want to stay. So I left."

It unsettled me how he could talk about it in such a deadpan voice. "So what about Shizune?"

"Oh, she's at home still. Dunno how she's coping, but she's there."

"Are you… Are you going to do anything about it?"

He sighed again. "I don't know. I can't do anything, can I? Well, except stay away, I guess. Kiba's parents don't ask questions, so I know I'll be fine here. Jiraiya knows I'm here and promised not to tell Orochimaru or the nerd."

"No, I mean, are you going to _do_ anything?"

He was silent for a moment before getting the meaning of my words, and he immediately froze up. I didn't have to see him to know that his face had gone all closed and his eyes had lost their spark.

"No." So blunt. So final.

"But –"

"I'll put them in danger. I don't know what they were talking about, but I don't want to cause trouble to them. By the sounds of it, speaking up is going to mean hell for them, so I won't do it. He can stay a closet pervert for as long as he wants, for all I care, as long as the others are safe from whatever he's got up his sleeve."

I said nothing, knowing that he was too stubborn to be swayed. It was true, though. Speaking out against Orochimaru would lead to whatever he was using as blackmail getting out in his show of retaliation, which would put Tsunade in danger. Naruto would never do that, and honestly, I was a little proud of him.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" I asked, turning the focus back on him and not Tsunade.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"_Yes_. Jeez, usually I'm the one freaking out about you."

I frowned. "I freak out about you plenty enough."

He laughed quietly. It was almost forceful, but it was still there. "Yeah, yeah I guess you do. We both do."

I smiled a little at that, and we lapsed into a comfortable conversation about pretty much nothing. He spent most of the time interrupting himself to hurl some abuse at Kiba and tell him he smelt like wet dog and not to go anywhere near his bed smelling like that, but it was nice. He sounded better as the conversation went on, and I only hung up when I was satisfied that he was all right.

For once I was thankful that Dog Boy was around.

--

I paced back and forth at my friend's front door, trying to convince myself to open the damn thing. It was just Sakura; I'd asked her for favours loads of times. No need to freak.

Yeah, but you've never asked her to sneak into restricted files and snoop around being a general nosey cow and find out everything possible about your principal.

… Good point.

I pressed my lips into a thin line and stepped forwards, knocking sharply on the hard wood three times. I fidgeted nervously, not comfortable with being… well, with being so nervous.

God Sasuke, what is wrong with you? You're being so pathetic! Sure it's a big favour, but you know she's more than capable of it. That girl can pull the moves when she wants to, and she deserves to know what's going on anyway, considering she's a part of it. Now grow some balls and swallow your pride just for a moment, you stuck up prat; there are more important things at stake.

And I am done.

I took a deep breath, acknowledging what my conscience (the one I used when the other two were unavailable) was telling me, and immediately stopped my fidgeting. My hands were in the back pockets of my black jeans and my back straightened. I kept my face as the standard blank wall without emotion as the door opened, a surprised Sakura behind it.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

I shrugged. "Just wanted to talk."

She narrowed her eyes. "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Sasuke…"

I huffed. "What?"

She opened the door wider so I could see that she was standing with her hands on her hips, that motherly look on her face that she wore so often around me and Shikamaru. "Come on, out with it. You've got that look about you that just _screams_ something's wrong. What did Naruto do?"

I rolled my eyes. "_Nothing_, Haruno."

She winced. "Out with the surname. Ouch."

"Just let me in, would you?"

She tutted and made a general fuss but stepped aside anyway, letting me into her house. She suddenly shot out her hand and gripped me tightly on the shoulder, biting her lip.

"Uh… my, um, my parents are home, so…"

I sort-of smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I get it. Quiet as a mouse."

She smiled. "Thanks."

True to my word, I said nothing despite practically wanting to shout it at her until we were safely in her room and the door was closed. I saw her breathe a sigh of relief before she got comfortable on her head, and I once again took up the giant pink cushion.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "No point avoiding it. What happened?"

I bit my lip.

"It's gotta be big to get you this nervous."

I played with my hair.

"Wow. Must be intense."

I nodded absently before suddenly blurting, "Promise you won't ask questions?"

She gave a little smile and rolled her eyes, tucking her legs underneath her on the bed and bringing a cushion over to hug it. "What did you do to Naruto?"

I sighed. I knew she'd think that. "Nothing happened, but – well, yeah, okay something did, but that's beside the point. This is _really_ important."

She whistled and moved forwards a little, interested. "Clearly. Come on then, out with it. I won't ask questions."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe a couple, but come on!"

I shrugged, knowing that was the best I was going to get and another pointless argument that we seemed to be so fond of would get me absolutely nowhere. Leaning forwards to rest my chin on my hand, I stayed in silence for a moment, trying to choose my words carefully.

"Well… you know how Tsunade works at the hospital sometimes when it's busy?"

She nodded and waved her hand. "Common knowledge, Sasuke. She's been doing it for years since she quit."

"But why did she quit?"

She shrugged, clearly not seeing the importance. "I dunno, probably got over it. It happens, you know. There's only so much death a woman can deal with."

I chewed my lip in thought, trying to figure out how to make her realise how important it was without just outright telling her. I'd just explain it how I explained it to Shisui, and all would be well. Hopefully. She was probably a little more perceptive than Shisui, purely from the fact that she spent more time with me, so I might not be able to get away with so much. She'd know if I was holding something back.

So I spilled. Almost everything.

I explained how Orochimaru had made a move on me, how I'd pieced together the story of Sasori and Deidara that she'd told me, eventually began to talk with Kakashi and Iruka (I tweaked that one a little), Neji and Gaara cornered me, I'd overheard Haku, Tsunade being blackmailed, and the latest discovery that it was a _lot_ more dangerous than we thought, and I wanted her to do some research – everything.

I tell you, it took me forever.

But she didn't interrupt, not once, just listened with wide eyes the entire time, absorbing everything. What I hadn't expected at the end was the bone-crushing hug she launched at me out of the blue.

I gasped for air as I was flattened to the ground, the wind knocked out of me, but she wouldn't let me go, gushing something about how she _never_ would have guessed that was what was troubling me, and she was so, so, _so_ sorry for being rude to me before and oh my _God_ what now? What about Tsunade, and Gaara, and Naruto?! How were we going to go about this? How were we going to deal with it? Did Shikamaru know? Did _Naruto_ know what we were doing? After all, it was his aunt, right? (I was especially thankful I hadn't decided to divulge Naruto's secret to her) And what if it got too dangerous? What if more people got involved?

And on and on and on and on and – "_Sakura_!"

She instantly loosened her grip around my neck and sat back, allowing me breathing space. She looked a little sheepish and bit her lip in embarrassment. "Uh… sorry, got a little carried away."

I raised my eyebrows, wheezing a little. "Oh, you don't say."

She shrugged and twiddled her thumbs in a very Hinata-like way. "So, um… yeah. Did you make sense of all that?"

I rolled my eyes and sat up after taking several deep breaths and relishing in that good old thing called _air_. "All I pretty much paid attention to was that no, Shikamaru doesn't know, neither does Naruto, and too many people are involved so no, we're not telling anyone else."

She looked uncomfortable for a moment, and kept glancing at me through her fringe that had fallen in front of her eyes. She seemed almost in awe of what I'd told her, and for a moment I thought she didn't believe me.

"I'm telling the truth, Sakura. This is too complicated to lie about."

She shook her head. "No, I believe you. Seriously, I do, no matter how totally… totally screwed up it is. But I – I think Shikamaru should know."

"No," I said instantly.

She sighed and played with the ends of her hair. "But why? He'd be able to help, you know. You and Neji and him are the smartest in our year level, and I don't count Gaara in there because he's too crazy to be trusted, and I know Shino has nothing to do with this. So if all of you are working together to figure something out then there's no stopping you, especially if you've got Iruka and Kakashi-sensei behind you too."

I glared at her, telling her that no, I didn't care what she thought, it wasn't happening.

She groaned in frustration when she understood my look. "Why not?"

"Because he doesn't have to know."

"Whatever he doesn't have to know you don't have to tell him, simple as that. I know you left a whole chunk of stuff out of whatever you told me, but I'm not asking questions and neither will he."

I shook my head. "I just think he'll figure it out. He'll know I'm leaving something out and he'll realise and find out and question me about it and I _can't_ have that happening. There are reasons I'm not telling, and I don't need some smartarse to work it all out and confront me and the other person involved about it."

"Look, he won't ask questions, I know he won't."

"He won't have to."

"Sasuke, please, I really think he deserves to know. He's been asking me about you a lot lately because he's worried out of his mind. He knows something's going on between you, Gaara and Neji and he wants you to talk to him. We know you have other friends, Sasuke, but you don't have to leave us out of the loop, okay?"

I said nothing, finally acknowledging her words. She did have a point. For once. But still…

"I don't know…"

There was a sharp knock at the door and I jumped to my feet, heading straight for the door to leave as Sakura said, "Give him a chance, yeah?"

I chose to ignore her. I opened the door to see her mother standing there, a look of total shock on her face at seeing a _boy_ opened her _daughter's_ door, coming out of her _bedroom_. Oh gosh, who would've thought?

Before the woman could say anything I cut her off with a firm, "I'm gay, okay. Gay. I like boys. Not your daughter," and promptly pushed past her to leave the house.

I tried very hard not to laugh at the look on her face.

--

"Uchiha, over here."

Now, normally I would scorn at anyone who tried to tell me what to do and go on my merry way while pointedly ignoring them, but I actually turned around this time. Well, it wasn't every day Ino used that tone with me.

I paused mid-step, turning to face her with my eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

She swished her hair. "I said, over here. You. Table. Sit."

I continued staring. No, this _certainly_ wasn't a common occurrence. I narrowed my eyes at her, glaring her down until she started fidgeting – which is what she was supposed to be doing. The world would end the day she actually started standing up to me. Seriously, things just didn't happen that way, no matter how much I'd softened up since I got… well, Naruto-ified.

"And I said, excuse me? Are you actually telling _me_ what to do?"

Shikamaru and Tenten rolled their eyes while Choji and Hinata stared down at the table. Ino stared at her hands before looking at me meekly through her fringe, squeaking out, "Um… I… Yes?"

I narrowed my eyes further, trying to convey my absolute hatred for her at this moment. I just couldn't be bothered dealing with her. I had a class to get to. "Well you can –"

"Sasuke, we're going to eat you," Tenten interrupted. "We just need to talk to you about… something."

I looked to Shikamaru, who was still looking at me like I was just a little bit frustrating, but shrugged when I met his eyes. "Don't look at me, I don't know what's going on."

Well that was a first. But still, I wasn't going to sit down. I was playing my own little avoiding game with my dear friend Shikamaru, and I wasn't going to walk into a situation where there was any possibility, no matter how slight, that either Naruto or any of the teachers I was currently trying to sabotage could be brought up. Shikamaru was smarter than he let on, and he let on that he was _very_ smart, so he was bound to figure out that something was going on. He'd figure it out by something as menial as the way I looked to the side when I was asked a question or whatever. Trivial things I didn't pay attention to unless I meant to, that's what would tip him off.

Yes, it was a totally ridiculous fear because he was my friend and Sakura said we should let him know what was going on because in a sense he had a right to know, but… honestly, I was scared of him finding out too much. He'd know if I was holding back, and I'd be restraining myself a _lot_ if anyone out of Sasori, Deidara and Orochimaru were brought up.

Sakura had most likely told him by now that all three of us needed a talk, but that didn't mean I couldn't procrastinate as long as possible. So I'd decided to avoid him, and so far had lasted… ooh, four hours? Judging by the fact it was now the end of lunch time and I wasn't counting the weekend because I hadn't seen him anyway.

In short, I didn't feel like talking to him just yet because, I admit it with no shame, I was afraid. Afraid he'd see more sense in the situation and I'd feel stupid, afraid he'd know more about it and take charge, take it away from me – I didn't know. I just… I just didn't want him to know everything yet, not until I had something more solid to go on. Screw what Sakura said. No one else had to know the entire story.

And that meant avoiding him at all costs. Brilliant.

"Well then thanks, but I'll pass today," I said in a smartarse tone, directing my attention back to Ino.

She turned her wide, 'innocent' eyes on me pleadingly in an attempt to melt my ice cold heart. Hah. That block of ice only melted for one person's puppy eyes and one person's only. She wasn't them.

"But… but we _need_ to talk to you! It's _important_!"

The second bell went, giving me an excuse to go. I had drama – that should be reason enough to piss bolt.

"I have class. What a pity."

"Please, Sasuke?" Tenten asked. "Just a nice innocent little chat, nothing more."

I snorted. "Now that you've said that – no way."

"Sasuke-e-e!" God, could her voice _get_ any more painful?

"Look, Ino, I'm sure it's not that big a deal…"

Thank you, Choji.

Ino looked at her boyfriend in horror. "Not a big deal?! He's _leaving_, Choji! He deserves something to remember us by! How can you say this is not a big deal?"

I felt my stomach flip uncomfortably. Of course, that's what they wanted to talk about. That's what everyone wanted to talk about. Only one month, Uchiha. We're gonna miss you, Uchiha. More like 'can't wait to see your back, bastard'. All I needed was for my teachers to find out, which was bound to happen sometime soon, and then I'd be getting it from them as well. I didn't want to cause a scene, I just wanted to _leave_. Sort of. Maybe.

Blah.

"If it was anything like your's and Sakura's party, I'm sure he'll have _plenty_ to remember us by, and not all good."

Ino laughed at Tenten, obviously a little proud. "Ah, you love it."

"Hah."

Oh, so it was… _oh_. No way.

I took a step away from the table. "No. No party. I told you. Just… no." So much for leaving quietly.

Ino pulled her best pout. "Please? We need to know when to have it because you're going to be packing the last week and it'll take a while to organise. Aaah, so much to do, so little time!"

I rolled my eyes and turned my back on them all. "It's not happening. Now you know, so you don't need to waste time planning. Now, I have class."

I began to walk away when I heard Shikamaru sternly cut off Ino's second (or third… or fourth) bout of whining.

"Leave it, Ino."

I silently thanked him as I walked away towards to art block, heading off to the drama room. Truthfully, I wanted to walk _very_ far in the opposite direction, but I had a class to go to. Sadly.

I spotted Naruto at the top of the steps chatting to Sai before he walked off. I waved at Naruto, hurrying a little to catch up to him when I felt a firm hand clamp down on my shoulder. I winced, knowing it was the one person I wanted to avoid. Funny how life decided to laugh at you like that sometimes.

"Shikamaru."

He sighed and stepped around so he was in front of me. I saw Naruto watching us with a strange look on his face, and I held up a finger to tell him to wait. Hopefully this wouldn't take long.

Shikamaru fidgeted for a moment before saying, "Sorry, I didn't know they were going to do that."

Looked at him confusedly. "It's… fine?"

He exhaled loudly in frustration. "No, I mean, you know, I know you're still iffy about going, and they just… yeah, they have no idea."

I shrugged, a little touched that he'd come to apologise even though it obviously wasn't his fault. I shook my head at him and laughed a little.

"Don't stress, man. Like you said – you didn't know."

He relaxed a little but still seemed… I don't know, uncomfortable. Like there was something else bothering him. He opened his mouth to presumably say what was on his mind when Naruto shouted out, "Teme! The class is going in. Hurry up!"

Shikamaru and I both frowned at him. Shikamaru stuck his finger up. I snorted. My lazy friend drowned out Naruto's offended and no-doubt spluttered response by tapping my shoulder in a very rare display of affection and saying, "Talk to me, yeah?" as he turned away.

I watched with a small frown as he caught up and threw an arm around Choji's shoulder, Ino almost instantly pushing it off and replacing it with her own. I felt my gut twist in guilt, and I winced, shaking my head.

I turned to catch up to a now very frustrated and impatient Naruto, who grabbed my hand and scolded me for 'taking my own sweet time about getting to class'. I smiled to myself, feeling my heart lift a little as he tried to be pissed off. But I could tell he didn't mean it. I stopped him a few steps away from the door into the drama room and just looked at him. Nothing else, just admired. Hey, if he could randomly do that to me then I could too.

He raised an eyebrow at me and paused mid-scolding. "What…?"

I shrugged, pushing past him to get into the room. "Nothing. Thanks. I guess."

He was silent for a moment before snorting and following me into the room, wisely deciding not to ask. But of course, my sudden comeback to a moderately good mood was, of course, shattered by the arrival of none other than Orochimaru.

He stormed in, eyes promising murder, and even Kabuto looked a little afraid. The entire class snapped to attention, even the ever-proud Neji, and watched on fearfully as he started fuming at us all.

"Everyone, get the _hell_ out of my classroom and don't you _dare_ come back in. Take your scripts and whatever with you, I know the play is coming up very soon, so go outside and practice until you drop dead, I don't care, just do _not_ set a single _toe_ inside this classroom or it will be removed. I'm not joking. Uchiha, Uuzumaki, you're staying here. Everyone else – _leave_!"

And the class was gone like a shot, everyone scrabbling at the door to get away from the psycho-killer teacher. I didn't blame them. I would've been running for my life if I could.

* * *

This chapter was too long, so I hacked it. Cliffhanger's not very… cliffhanger-y, but that's all ya gonna get. I'm going to stop making promises with chapters because I've now learned that I can't keep them, but as it stands the next one _should_ be up same time next week.

Ogod! Train! -runs around and flails-


	17. Bullshit Detector Equals Fail

Hello again everyone, _I'm finally back!_ WOOT! –victory dance- Aeigh, only took me forever and a day. My bad. This chapter was written while I was still sick (the effort I put into this story should _really_ be directed at my homework, ey? -looks at papers spread out on desk-... Bah), so it might seem a bit forced. I promise it picks up from now on though.

**Really, Really, REALLY Long A/N:** Buuut you can deal with it. I need to rant here because this person didn't sign their review, and I would like to give them a bit of an earful. I know this is a bad start to posting again after such a long time, but I want to get it out of the way and let them know how angry it made me at the time. So to you who posted this review (-points down-), this is what I have to say.

"_yea. Continue updating so that u can earn your right in hell. Jesus look down  
on you. Continue spreading the devils work to further taint this world. The  
more tainted it gets, the nearer doomsday is. Ah...but like the cowards you  
all are to face the society, you come and write gay fics here under an  
anonymous pen name where the law cant catch up with you."_

Amusing, ne? This response will be up in my profile as well eventually, because honestly, I'm a tad pissed off.

I find it amusing first and foremost, that you didn't take the time to sign in before you reviewed. You told me off for using an anonymous pen name and being a coward when you did exactly the same thing, except you were covering your own arse. People like you are perfectly free to tell me what you think, whereas I have no way of responding to you. Next time, leave an email address or have the guts to sign in. It prevents me doing it publicly, which I don't especially enjoy.

If I'm going to hell, then I'm assuming everyone else who writes Yaoi at all is as well? I have a feeling I'm going to have a nice time…

Yes I will keep updating. I will continue writing gay fics. I enjoy them. My reviewers enjoy them, bar you, but I honestly don't really care about your opinion. In fact, I don't think you care about mine either, but if you're allowed to say what you want then there's nothing stopping me.

Jesus looks down on me? Well no shit, love. Apparently he looks down on everyone. And I'm not a huge fan of his either. I don't want to be a God-basher, but please, _don't_ use that as a reason for attacking me. Worst. Argument. Ever. And don't shove it in my face – that's what pisses me off. I've got plenty of friends who are both gay and religious, so people like you who can't see the balance and that we're not offensive in the slightest can just –insert violent words that I don't particularly _want_ to say here but oh yes, I'm thinking them-

I really don't appreciate being told I'm the reason for this world being 'tainted', and as far as I know, writing gay fanfiction definitely isn't against the law. Hell, being _gay_ isn't against the law (unless you live in Denmark, but let's ignore that fact for now, ne? XD).

I don't want to take up space here being a bitch right back to you, so I'll shut up. I just want you to know that I'm pretty pissed off. Not hurt (far from it), just angry that you actually took the time and went out of your way to tell me what a horrible person I am for writing a story that other people enjoy. Seriously whoever you are, sign in next time and have a go at me properly if you're going to at all. But do you do that with every gay fanfic you come across?

Fail.

At life.

And I am done.

And now that _that's_ over, here is chapter 17 of So He's My Boyfriend, Right (FINALLY). A 'gay fic' involving TWO BOYS who happen to LIKE EACH OTHER and do A LOT OF SNOGGING and maybe a LITTLE MORE from time to time. If you enjoy it, review and let me know, if you don't, I don't care. Thank you to everyone who reviewed while I was sick/floundering! I tried to reply to them all and I hope you got my messages letting you know this would be back on track!

And sorry for sounding so horrible up there (I'm not apologising to _you_, oh Dear Reviewer), but yeah, I' wasn't having the best of days back then and writing that response pissed me off to no end. I was restraining. That was originally two pages in Word and I cut it down to one.

I hope you enjoy the chapter and I'm so sorry it took me for freaking ever to update! School and family like to get in the way, ne? Okay, I know, no excuse, but things really did get hectic with exams and then my family failed at life for ages and gu~h. Writing was impossible. But here I am and I bring the COMPLETED story with me! So~.... ENJOY!

Or die.

XD

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

**

* * *

  
**

17. BULLSHIT DETECTOR EQUALS FAIL

"_Everyone, get the hell out of my classroom and don't you dare come back in. Take your scripts and whatever with you, I know the play is coming up very soon, so go outside and practice until you drop dead, I don't care, just do not set a single toe inside this classroom or it will be removed. I'm not joking. Uchiha, Uuzumaki, you're staying here. Everyone else – leave!"_

_And the class was gone like a shot, everyone scrabbling at the door to get away from the psycho-killer teacher. I didn't blame them. I would've been running for my life if I could._

---

I didn't think on the fact that either myself or my boyfriend could be murdered any time soon for too long, instead opting to turn my attention to the now pacing Orochimaru, looking for all the world like he wanted to rip our throats out. In fact, I might go so far as to say he had a very, _very_ strong desire to do so. Well, I could understand his pain. I'd like nothing more than to rip his throat out as well. Maybe something else, but let's not go into that now, hm?

Said snake-rapist suddenly stopped pacing and rounded on the both of us. I reached out for Naruto's hand out of habit, thankful that he didn't shy away from me this time, and realised he was probably just as freaked out as I was.

"_You two_! It was all _your_ fault, wasn't it? One of you spilled, one of you let it out, and now she's gone and _I'm_ in danger. People are talking, spreading rumours – not all about me but I don't _care_. I cannot have anything disrupt the life I've created here! It was all reliant on _you_ keeping your mouth shut, you worthless runt, and now look what's happened! There's so much at stake here and you have _no_ idea how dangerous it's going to get once she opens her big mouth and starts talking to all the wrong people. Just one little upstart from you and she's going to throw it all to the wind. _You_!" He pointed his shaking finger at Naruto, eyes wide and wild, and took a step forward.

I pushed Naruto behind me, narrowing my eyes at our 'teacher', just daring him to come any further. He laughed in my face. Again with the terrible breath.

"Think you can protect him, do you, huh? Think you can _save_ him? Be the _hero_? Well you can't! He doesn't deserve to be protected! He's destroyed it – all of it!"

I felt the adrenaline rush of being in a confronting situation, and took a calming breath. I could use this to my advantage. I just had to ignore my rapidly beating heart and the potential of being killed. Easy.

"Destroyed what? What could he possibly destroy that you haven't destroyed already?"

He got right up close and spat in my face. "Shut up, Uchiha. You're just as worthless as him. I can see so much in you but you shove it in my face. Do you know how _angry_ that made me? Do you know how much I wanted to just wring your little neck?"

"I can imagine it's probably how I feel about you right now."

"Sasuke…" Naruto tried.

"Oh hoh ho! Talking big now, are we?"

"Says you," I countered. "You're acting all high and mighty, like the world revolves around you, like everything's going to end just because there's a chance you're going to get uncovered."

He gave a short, barking laugh, turning his back on me and returning to his pacing.

I continued.

"You deserve to have everything fall apart, and you _know_ it's going to. You know people are talking because they suspect. Not everything's as watertight as you think it is, Orochimaru. Scum like you don't deserve to live."

"Disgusting, lowlife, insolent, chatty little _shits_ like you are the ones that don't deserve to live! You along with your pathetic boyfriend! He told her everything, didn't he? He promised he'd stay quiet because he _knew_ that the trouble it would cause would affect so much more than his whiney little situation of some mild discomfort. You know what this means, don't you, Naruto? You know what you've done, don't you, huh?"

Naruto pushed me aside, and I did a double-take. Oh God, there was that look in his eyes again. One I'd only seen twice before. Once when we'd fought years ago, and another a little more recently when he'd decided to slam me against the lockers for being a prissy bitch and frustrating the crap out of him. This was a little more dramatic though, and I decided it was probably wise to stay out of his way.

I'd planted the seeds of doubt that I'd intended, and that was all I needed to do. Time for Naruto to have his fun.

"I haven't done anything, _Orochimaru_. You're not going to do anything, you're not going to expose anyone, because you won't risk it yourself. I've got so much dirt on you I don't know what to do with it all, but I know it could land you the rest of your life in prison. I've heard you and Jiraiya talking, you know, I've heard loads of crazy shit and trust me, _nothing_ you do will be enough to prevent the worst happening to you or whoever those freaks are you've got with you."

My eyes widened steadily throughout his whole mini-rant. He knew? He knew what was happening with Tsunade and Orochimaru? He knew Jiraiya was somehow involved?

… He _knew_?!

Well shit. That changed things. That _definitely_ changed things.

Orochimaru was seething now, and looking just a little terrified. He did a good job of covering it up though, I must say.

"Don't you _dare_ think you know what's going on, Uzumaki scum. You have no idea what your aunt's done. You have no idea what _I've_ done, and you never will."

Naruto growled low in his throat. "_You're_ the one who has no idea. _You're_ the one who thinks you're so safe with all your lies and promises that you made only so you could break them. I swear I'll get you. I'll get you back for the downright _hell_ you put me and so many other people through."

"Not if I get to him first," I said through clenched teeth.

Naruto shot me a look that clearly told me to kindly shut the fuck up, and I had no choice but to comply.

Orochimaru's eyes were darting back and forth between us, and I could tell that he was trying to determine whether or not we were telling the truth or just bullshitting. Honestly, I'd say it was half and half: let them get scared and make them think you know more than you actually do. It was only a half lie, and if you pulled it off well enough they'd probably end up spilling it all in the assumption that you knew anyway. Somehow I didn't think this would be the case today.

"You've caused a lot of trouble, you have," Orochimaru said quietly but forcefully, his words practically dripping with venom. He chose to act confident, but both Naruto and I could see it was just that – an act. "I don't think your precious aunt is going to be too pleased when she finds out it was _you_ who exposed her, you and your dear little boyfriend. If you had've kept your mouth shut then she would've stayed safe, but now… Sorry, but now she's going to have to lose her job, her reputation, her family, her home, her friends – everything."

He lowered his voice to a deadly whisper, walking back towards us slowly, gaining his actual confidence back. "It's just the way it has to happen, Naruto. Once she's exposed the attention will be on her and I can run off again. Do you see it now? You may have fucked things up for me momentarily, but I _will_ win, and your aunt will pay the price for your selfishness and her own big mouth."

I glared daggers at him and squeezed Naruto's hand that had found its way back to mine. He still had all his anger, though. Oh yes, the eyes were still terrifying.

"_You're_ selfish! It's not me! And I never told her – she found out. You're not as smart as you think you are, you know. People hear things and come to their own conclusions. It's going to happen to you. No one's going to care about Tsunade because we'll get to you first. I know you need to wait for the right time. You need to find somewhere else, and at the moment you have nowhere. I'm _not_ as stupid as you think I am, arsehole, and Sasuke sure as hell isn't either."

He was smiling now. "Trust me, Uzumaki, it's not _possible_ to come to a correct conclusion on exactly what I'm involved in just from hearing things on the wind. It's far more complicated and you're aunt is just the starting point. She's just a thorn in my side that needs to be removed." He came closer, smile turning predatory. "And you _must_ be stupid if you think you can corner _me_."

Naruto squared his jaw defiantly, but I could tell by the way he gripped my hand in a death-grip that he was shitting himself. Orochimaru came right up to his face and traced his jaw line with a long-nailed finger, his eyes pretty much devouring him.

So I punched him.

Straight in the nose.

What? Do you seriously think I was going to just sit there while he cracked on to my boyfriend yet again and do nothing about it?

Pfft. As if.

I probably hit him a good four or five times before the element of surprise wore off and he fought back, catching me in the stomach just as Naruto pulled me away roughly.

"Sasuke, what the hell are you doing?! This is isn't your fight, damnit!"

Orochimaru did that disgusting laugh again, lying on the floor and breathing heavily. Kabuto was at his side instantly, helping him to his feet.

Naruto grabbed my hand before anything else could be said and dragged me out of the room, slamming the door behind him in his fury and saying nothing until we were well away from the drama room and in a secluded place behind one of the ceramics rooms.

Then he rounded on me, and I was expecting him to shout and rant and get very pissed off, but he seemed to struggle with himself for a moment before he collapsed against my chest, crying for all he was worth.

I was a little shocked for a moment, unable to do anything, but recovered soon enough and wrapped my arms around him, kissing the top of his head. I felt his heartbeat still going at a million miles an hour, and knew mine was pretty much the same. We stayed in silence until we were both breathing normally and not trying to restrain ourselves from murdering anyone, but Naruto didn't pull away.

He did, however, mumble into my neck, tickling me a little. "That was pretty much entirely bullshit, you know."

I froze, my hands stopping the circular movements they were making on his back. No, he couldn't be making it up. He couldn't be. I thought I'd finally found what I needed to. Naruto had overheard conversations, he apparently knew why Orochimaru needed protection, and about his past.

Apparently.

I narrowed my eyes and pushed him away just enough to look straight into his eyes, trying to make him see how serious I was. I forced myself to ignore his tear-swollen, red eyes. I had to be forceful, not all soft and mushy over a cute face.

"Naruto, please tell me you weren't bullshitting."

He bit his lip nervously. "Why?"

"Just tell me you weren't."

"But, I…"

I growled unintentionally. "Shit, you really were."

He nodded, clearly confused.

And there it went, out the window and onto the jagged rocks. Now I'd have to wait for either Kakashi and Iruka, or my cousin, and there was no telling how long that would take.

I let Naruto go completely and started walking away, doing my best to hide my sudden surge of anger. I didn't want to take it out on him, but by God I would if he tried to follow me. He'd just ripped everything out from under me without a second thought. I know that he honestly had no idea about what I was doing, but still…

I kept walking, ignoring his confused shouting of my name, and speeding up my steps when I heard him follow. I hadn't gotten very far when I felt his hands grab at my arm.

"Sasu-"

I spun around, talking over him. "What, Naruto? _What_?"

He blinked in surprise and let go of my arm, taking a tiny step backwards. "I – I…"

"You what? You're sorry for getting my hopes up? You're sorry for making me think that you actually _knew_ something? You're sorry for making me think that _finally_ all this shit could be _over_? What?"

He opened and closed his mouth several times, confusion clear on his worried features, and I felt bad for a moment. It didn't last long, though, and when he didn't give me an answer fast enough I spun around to storm off a second time. He stopped me again though, and this time when I faced him he'd lost all traces of surprise and confusion, replacing them with a hard glare.

"Sasuke, what the hell is going on? Why are you so pissed off?"

I glared at him with a force a hundred times that of his own. "I've already said why I'm pissed off. Maybe you should listen properly next time."

"What's that meant to mean?!"

"It means you should pay more attention to what's around you, Naruto. You _live_ in that house, you _live_ with all three of them, so why don't you know anything?! I want him gone, and sometimes I think you don't. I'm trying to help you, going out of my way for _you_, and you went and got my hopes up hen shoved them back in my face. _That's_ what it means, Naruto!"

"But I don't understand…"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Of course you don't. You don't get anything. You need it all spelled out for you and repeated over and over before something sinks in, don't you? It's a wonder you caught on to that situation back there so fast. Yeah, you did a good job scaring the crap out of him, sure, but you didn't _know_ what you were saying, and my God that is _so frustrating_!"

He pressed his lips into a thin line and clenched his fists. I honestly thought he was going to hit me, but he said through clenched teeth, "Well I'm sorry for whatever I did. Maybe sometime you'll feel like explaining it to me properly," and turned his back on me.

I stared at him as he walked away, taking large, angry strides. I tried to feel guilty but failed. He should have realised what he'd done. He'd said it himself – he wasn't as stupid as people thought he was.

With a growl I left, heading back up to the lockers and hoping that Naruto had gone to find Kiba, seeing as though class still hadn't finished. It would be awkward if I ran into him so soon, to say the least.

I stormed up the stairs, still unable to feel a single drop of sadness that we'd just had a fight, and ripped open my locker. I pulled out my bag, swearing loudly in frustration when a few stray text books fell out at the force. I picked them up and threw them back in, slammed the locker shut and swung my bag onto my shoulder.

School could get stuffed.

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Itachi poked my side for the thousandth time, and for the thousandth time I told him to piss off or I would choose between ripping his eyes out, ripping his teeth out, and breaking his elbows, all three of which sounded very appealing at the current time.

"Aaw, don't be so moody. Who woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, huh?"

I closed my eyes and counted to ten very slowly while he kept chewing my ear off.

"You're in a very pissy mood, you know. I think you're being quite rude. I mean, here I am, all in an excellent mood because we're nearly finished and I _finally_ have a week off from rehearsals, and you come in all grumpy and slamming doors and kicking Same, which he most definitely did not deserve, and being a general poo. Yes, a poo. Now if you would be so kind as to explain yourself, I would be very grateful."

9… 10.

"Itachi, get out of my face." Well that tactic failed miserably. "Now."

He gave me a stupid childish grin and pulled at my hair as he giggled. "Not until ya tell me what's wrong."

I groaned. "For the _last_ time, _nothing_ is wrong!" Funny how I said that so angrily and so like a pissy teenager.

"You could've at least _tried_ to sound convincing, you know," he said haughtily. "I say, teenagers these days just don't know how to deal with things. They're all caught up in their own world of sex and video games." He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, _no_ idea."

Stupid insane people and not knowing how to interact socially. If he could read my body language right now he'd now he was about to die.

"I'm serious, Itachi."

"So am I! All I'm doing is trying to help, and you go and throw it all back in my face!"

"Because you're _annoying_!"

"So are you, Mr Breathe and I'll Kill You."

I cried out loudly in frustration and moved to stand up, my patience long since gone and his presence doing absolutely _nothing_ for my mood, but he quickly pushed me back down by my shoulders. I was about to open my mouth to tell him again, quite rudely, to kindly climb up the nearest tower and jump off, when he did something really… nice.

"Sasuke, I'm asking because I'm worried. I know I don't make sense sometimes and I can be a big bad scary older brother, but I don't like seeing you upset. Tell me what's on your mind and we'll all feel better." He gave me a look full of concern. "Please?"

And he sounded so sincere that I was actually silenced. Calmed and silenced.

"Come on, it feels better to tell." He giggled as Same came and leapt up onto the armchair, curling up on my lap and looking at me with those huge brown eyes. "See? Even Same's worried about you."

I sighed, feeling terrible. "Sorry, Itachi, but I can't talk about it. You probably won't remember anyway."

He frowned. "I can try. Is it about that scholarship you got?"

I blanked for a moment, then that excuse that I'd come up with so long ago sprang back into my head and I nodded a little dumbly. "Y-Yeah… that's it."

Itachi smiled sympathetically and Same nudged my knee with his head. "Having second thoughts?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"Then do what feels right. I can see that you're scared. You're scared of leaving Naruto behind and you're scared of leaving your friends. Honestly, I'm scared for me if you go because you're always here for me even when I do that thing you say terrifies the living daylights out of you. If it was up to me, and I'm sure anyone else, you wouldn't be going. But it's your choice, and if you want to start somewhere else and gain new experiences then go for it. Just make sure it's _exactly_ what you want to do before you lock it in, all right?"

I nodded slowly. It wasn't anything I hadn't heard before, but somehow, hearing it from Itachi made it seem all the more… meaningful.

"From what it looks like to me, you have some unfinished business here, and it's going to tear you apart leaving Naruto. So think long and hard."

Suddenly he jumped to his feet, not giving me any time to answer, and glared up at the roof angrily.

"Honestly, I thought that god damn _thing_ had gone! I had a stern talk with it yesterday and it said it would go without a fuss, but it's still here!"

I raised my eyebrows, the change not exactly unexpected, yet still surprising. I needed him normal for a moment though, so I tried to bring him back to his sane level where he'd been cruising good and strong for the last five minutes. "Wait, Itachi, look at me."

He did so, very disgruntled and mumbling about annoying creatures from hell under his breath.

"So I got a scholarship, did I?"

He nodded, clearly confused. "Yes… to some New Zealand school?" He laughed, loud and sudden. "What, you don't remember? Honestly Sasuke, you're a hopeless wreck without me."

I ignored him. "I'm not going to live with our parents?" It was a gamble, but it was one I was willing to take. Perhaps now that Shisui had left (he went yesterday. Said goodbye over the phone, the cheapskate) and the constant reminder was gone, he was reverting back to his usual, nutjob self.

Which in a way was a relief, because then I wouldn't have to even bother with telling him the truth about where I was going. If he was 'normal' then there was no way in hell he'd believe it was just a coincidence that our parents lived in New Zealand, this apparent 'scholarship' was to a school in New Zealand, and that I was at the perfect age to begin training for Sharingan. He'd remember it all and he'd see through it without hesitation.

Itachi fidgeted nervously, frowning up at the roof occasionally and interrupting his own words with incoherent mumblings. "I, uh, don't really know how to tell you this, but – but our parents are kinda… sort of… well, _dead_."

I sighed in relief and actually smiled up at him, lifting Same off my lap despite his pissed-off protests at being moved so suddenly. "That's great news," I said, and was going to say more when my phone vibrated in my pocket.

I grinned stupidly at Itachi's look of utter shock, and ignored his spluttering of "Y-ju- _eh_?!"

"Hello?"

"Uchiha, hi, can you meet us at the café this Sunday at lunch? We have some things we need to discuss."

I paused a moment. "Hang on… Kakashi-sensei?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up this morning and decided that no, school was not going to happen today, and promptly rolled over after shutting off my alarm and fell asleep until midday.

When I eventually got up Itachi was thankfully gone, and I had last night's dinner (stir fry) for breakfast/lunch. I was in a bad mood again and my slobbiness was proof of that. What? One couldn't be a refined Uchiha 24/7, you know.

But of course, as I stared into the fridge deciding whether to drink the last of the orange juice or the milk, microwave heating up the stir fry, my thoughts inevitably turned to Naruto. Stupid Naruto and his stupid lack of intelligence and stupid obliviousness and stupid talent for bullshitting.

And then among my inner fuming, finally deciding to drink the last of _both_ drinks and tell Itachi to get stuffed when he went off at me, a thought suddenly hit me.

Hang on…

I ignored the loud beeping of the microwave, swung the fridge door closed and hurried to pick up my mobile from my bedside table. I opened up the calendar and checked a few dates I'd put in there as reminder.

Shit.

That's what happens when you deal with teacher's hidden agendas, a family taking both sides, make war with your boyfriend's molester and have a fight with said boyfriend – you tend to lose track of the days. I should've realised it, though, what with all the extra assessment tasks we'd been given at school lately and the fact that Naruto and I had already passed the two month mark. This term only lasted just under three months, after all.

Which meant that there was only one week left.

Which meant I was leaving in… If today was Thursday, then… I did a quick calculation. Two weeks and five days, I was leaving, if you counted today, and mine and Naruto's three month was the day before that. If we were even still together.

Shit, I didn't know.

I couldn't do everything I had to in two freakin' weeks! No way!

I threw the phone on my bed and swore loudly.

Maybe if Naruto hadn't been _bullshitting_ yesterday, this could've been cleared up in time. But no, he really did have _no_ idea what was going on, so we were stuck at the same monotonous pace.

Thankfully, that sudden realisation of total crap…ness… didn't ruin my day, and I had a brilliant time brooding and getting angry at Naruto for being so unbelievably _stupid_ yet again. Sure he had a lot of shit going on and I knew that better than anyone except maybe Kiba, but couldn't he _ever_ employ the use of those observational skills I was sure he had deep in that under-worked brain somewhere?

And my thought process went a little like that for the entire day, a single trace of guilt yet to be found in my cruel conscience, and I had a lovely time enjoying Same's sudden newfound affection and blowing up aliens or racing cars into the ground.

Perfect.

Of course, it was bound to be ruined at one point, and that happened the second I heard a loud pounding on my front door, followed by a screeched, "Sasuke! Open this damn door right this second or I'll break it down!"

Shikamaru could be heard grumbling away and telling her to 'just calm down, jeez', and my mood went from worse to downright foul. No doubt I was in for a stern talking to, one I didn't feel like right now, not by a long shot. I toyed with just not answering the door, then realised a little too late that they could probably hear the sound of the television, and cursed my forgetfulness. So I heaved myself to my feet after pausing my game, grumbling all the while, and reluctantly opened the door.

The second it was open the tiniest bit, my former stalker burst through, pushing me out of the way and waving her arms about like the madwoman she was, talking animatedly all the while.

"_What_ did you do to the poor boy?! He showed up to school today for three classes – _three_! – before he went home because apparently he 'felt a bit sick'. But he came tearing past our group yesterday, didn't even apologise or _acknowledge_ Sai when he smashed into him, and I know that you two were kept behind with Orochimaru. Now I'm not stupid so I didn't even think for a second that Orochimaru had done something to either of you, because if he had then you would definitely be together. So I came to the conclusion that it was _you_ who said something to upset him, and that _you_ need to get that sorry butt of yours over to his place and apologise."

I frowned, not quite believing that the rant was that short and not bothering to correct her on Naruto's current whereabouts, and turned to Shikamaru with an eyebrow raised.

"Has she filled you in yet?"

He nodded and stuck his hands in his front pockets after nervously checking the time. "Yeah, somewhat. It's a bit more hectic than I thought, but oh well."

I nodded slowly, obviously ignoring Sakura because I just didn't _want_ to talk to her right now, and sat right back down in front of the television. I patted the ground for Shikamaru to join me.

"So, any opinions?" I asked once he had sat down and my game was resumed. Sakura was making sounds of protest behind me but I didn't pay any attention. I felt a bit bad, but… eh.

I saw him shrug out of the corner of my eye. "Not really. You seem to have it all very together, but it's nice to be in the light again."

I snorted. "Trust me, it's far from 'together'."

He shook his head. "I think you've got it more controlled than you think. You just have a few loose ends to tie up, one that Sakura will help you with today, and then you'll be fine."

I lifted an eyebrow and shot him a confused look, but he just pointed out in a very disinterested tone that I had been shot in the head while I wasn't looking and so had to start the level again. Great.

"Kakashi-sensei asked me to meet them at the café this Sunday, said he had something to share. You're welcome to come along and help us sort this whole mess out."

He nodded slowly and said with a tired sigh, "I guess I should."

"Sorry it's such a drag," I smirked.

He rolled his eyes, but I caught the tiny smile.

"What, so I don't exist anymore, do I?" Sakura pouted from the couch.

I could've told her why she shouldn't be sitting on it, but in my own little sick way I found it amusing. I may have been dragging out my distrust for the couch a little too long, but really, it hadn't been cleaned in ages and there was no telling how many times my brother and his shark friend had gotten 'comfortable' on it. I just happened to catch them once.

"Well I _guess_ you can come."

She reached out with her foot and kicked me lightly in the back. "Why are you such a bitch?"

"Take a guess," I scowled.

"Naruto?"

"And…?"

"Orochimaru?"

"And?"

"Um… I don't know."

Shikamaru helped me out. "Naruto, Orochimaru, Shisui, Ino pressuring him for a party in turn worrying him about leaving, and himself because Uchihas get mad at themselves when things don't go exactly how they wanted them to."

I nodded. "Thank you."

"No worries."

I shot another alien down as Shikamaru warned me there was a whole line of them behind me.

Suddenly Sakura made an incredibly pissed off noise and jumped to her feet, stepping between Shikamaru and I and switching off the TV. I couldn't be bothered kicking up a stink about it, so I just looked at her expectantly.

She frowned down at me. "Oh don't look at me all pathetic and indifferent like that. You've got some explaining to do."

I raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

She threw her hands in the air and began pacing. "About _Naruto_! What's going on between you two? And what's all this about a party, and rethinking? And what's Shisui done this time? You need to _talk_ to us when you have a problem, Sasuke, it's not healthy to keep everything locked up inside. I thought being with Naruto taught you that."

"Being with Naruto also taught me how stupid he really is."

She stopped pacing and stared at me pointedly. "And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

I shrugged. "It means he's stupid. Nothing secret behind it. Just that he's stupid."

She tapped her foot and shoved her hands on her hips in impatience and frustration. "Care to elaborate."

"There's nothing to elaborate."

Shikamaru put a hand on my arm. "Sasuke, you know she won't shut up until you spill. Either that or she'll run to Naruto, get it out of him then rip into you with ten times more force." He wrinkled his nose. "Far too much trouble. Might as well get it over with."

And this is why I've missed Shikamaru.

I sighed and dropped the controller I'd kept holding needlessly, and leaned my elbow on my knee so I could prop my chin up in my hands. "You know there are things I can't tell you, not because it's my choice but because it's not my story to tell."

"Yes…" Sakura confirmed curiously.

"This is one of those things. It won't make any sense if I try and tell you."

"Can you give us the general low down?"

I sighed again and shrugged. "Orochimaru was mad at us, Naruto decided to act all smart and scare him by pretending to know stuff he didn't, I got hopeful, once he left he told me he made most of it up, and I got pissed off."

Sakura tilted her head to the side and sat down, patting my knee. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

I glared at her. "I can't tell you why he was mad, if you're wondering what part of that I couldn't explain."

"I figured."

"You're not getting anything else out of me."

"We don't _want_ to," Shikamaru assured me.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure you don't."

"No, really," Sakura insisted. "We know you won't say so we won't push you… Besides, you're a stubborn bastard," she added, almost as an afterthought.

I didn't bother denying what was true, and we lapsed into a silence that could have been labelled expectant. I was expecting Sakura to tell me what Shikamaru had let slip she would, Sakura expected me to say something on how I felt about Naruto while Shikamaru expected… hmm… He probably expected us to get all snarky at each other and for this not to go anywhere.

He was probably right.

As always.

Sakura eventually got impatient and drummed her fingers on her knee. "Soo… why haven't you talked to him yet?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't."

"Because he shattered your hopes that you were getting somewhere with finding out about Orochimaru's past when he doesn't actually know what's going on."

"…Hn."

"You're so annoying."

"You're not so pleasant yourself."

"Go and apologise."

"I have nothing to apologise for."

Shikamaru sighed with a tiny smile on his face and laid down, stretched out on his back with his arms behind his head. Oh yes, he was right once again. Smug bastard.

Sakura made a little frustrated squealing noise and wriggled a little. "You have _everything_ to apologise for!"

I raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"You just assumed that he would know what was going on when he had _no idea_ because _you_ won't tell him! I know you don't want to but you can't deny him the truth and then go and get pissed off at him for what was most likely an honest mistake. I don't know what happened with Orochimaru or why, but I'm going out on a limb by guessing that he was making up all that crap to scare Orochimaru away. He must've succeeded, but he pissed you off in doing so. _So what_? You're the one in the wrong here and you _know_ you are, so before you get anything out of me you're getting your arse over there and you are _apologising_."

She folded her arms across her chest and lifted her chin defiantly at me.

I glared at her. "Everything's easier when we're fighting." Yes, yes, I just completely disregarded everything she said.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"I don't need to worry about his reactions now. I don't need to worry about hiding it from him when we're talking. I don't have that constant stress over my head of balancing time between seeing him and sorting out my own shit. I don't… I don't need to worry if we're fighting. I don't _want_ to sort it out with him until I have a reason to."

Sakura looked at me blankly for a moment, mouth slightly open in shock. "But he's your _boyfriend_! You two are like… you're Naruto and Sasuke! You can't just leave some huge gap between you that's this serious. It's going to lead to distrust and more arguing and then one of you is going to leave the other and then _you're_ going to leave and then neither of you will be happy and Sasuke _please_ just go and talk to him."

She got a little hysterical towards the end there, and her eyes were wide and pleading as she reached out and squeezed my knee lightly.

I narrowed my eyes down at the offending hand and said quietly, "So that's what this is about, huh?"

"Sorry?"

"You just want us to fix this so that he'll go back to being the main reason for me wanting to stay, and then you won't have to deal with him when I'm gone."

"No, it's not –"

"Thanks, Sakura, thanks a lot, but I don't really _feel_ like making up with him right now. He completely shattered me yesterday even if he didn't know he was doing it, so forgive me if I'm a little shitty at him. He probably doesn't want to see me either, and quite frankly, I don't want to see _you_ if all you're going to do is try and force me to apologise when I did nothing wrong."

"Sasuke…" Shikamaru's voice was low and held a quiet warning.

I turned to glare down at him. "What?" I snapped.

"Take a breath and think properly."

I creased my brow. "What do you mean?"

He gave an annoyed sigh and pushed himself up on his elbows. "What exactly is going on here? Why _exactly_ don't you want to see Naruto? If they're reasons you can't tell us because you honestly _can't_, then don't, but if it's some stupid reason that's simply stemming from you not wanting to or not having the balls to, I won't be very impressed." He stood up with what looked to be a huge amount of effort and straightened out his clothes. "Now, I have a date with Temari tonight and if either of you call me to complain about the other I will have both your heads on Monday."

Sakura frowned. "Why not tomorrow?"

He shrugged as he stretched, and I could hear several bones popping back into place. "I don't think Temari intends on me coming to school tomorrow. We'll be too tired… if you know what I mean."

I smirked as he winked suggestively, getting it immediately. Sakura's hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide in shock as she realised what he was insinuating, and she spluttered. "Shi- Shikamaru! You can't – You're too – _no_!"

"No lectures, thanks, Mum. If you have any issues take it up with the lady."

At the dead serious look on her face Shikamaru instantly waved his hands in surrender. "I'm kidding, jeez. Take it easy. I've got some family thing tomorrow, that's all."

She glared daggers at him as I bit back a laugh. "I don't find that very amusing, Nara."

He shrugged and yawned, stepping around the couch towards my front door. I heard a pained-sounding _meow_! and Shikamaru cursed loudly. "God damnit! Stupid cat…" He turned back to Sakura and I, still sitting on the floor. "Sorry, Haruno, I'll try to be funnier next time. Don't kill each other, and Sakura, just tell him."

She pouted. "But he should _work_ for it."

"He's entitled to be an arse once in a while; he's been good lately."

"But –"

"He needs to know and he needs to know _now_. Don't try and bribe him."

She had the decency to look shocked. "I would never!"

He rolled his eyes and opened the door, saying as he stepped through it, "You so would and don't try and convince me otherwise. Honestly, _so_ much trouble."

And then he was gone, and I was watching Sakura expectantly.

She chewed on her bottom lip.

And then she spilled.

Saying I was surprised would have been a rather large understatement.

* * *

OHMYGODITSDONEWOOOO!!!!!!

And I'm feelin' good~ XD

Updates will be once a week, as usual, I just haven't figured out what day. Probably Tuesdays? Anyway, they won't be stupidly late at night like this one...

I hope you can all stick with me, and I perfectly understand if you can't (trust me, I'd get bored too). Please review so I know who's with me!! I will keep updating regardless, but it's nice to know ^^

love to you ALL because you're so amazing -tackle hugs-

~WY


	18. Flamboyant Whirlwind

a;kdjc na;eruhtfskjvtn THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH I LOVE YOU! No way in hell was I expecting that many reviews - seriously. DIdn't think half as many would still be with me, so thank you x10000000000000000.

This chapter is _waaaaaaaay_ too long. Though mighty important. With a bit of a filler. But it's a fun filler! XD And it's mostly dialogue, which makes everything super long. I'll stop making up excuses. Good luck.

Oh! And to **MusetteVigeeLebrun** (because there was no way to reply! DX): all I can say is this: BAHAHAHAHA!! XD You're awesome, thank you, stupid people make the world go around, I got lost and had to reread too, good luck, and aaaww 5 stars? Shucks ^^

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

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18. FLAMBOYANT WHILWIND

Ten more steps.

Nine.

Eight.

Oh this was taking too _long_.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Fuck it.

I took a leap in place of the last three steps, landed in the little clearing and promptly screamed my lungs out. Never mind that it was around ten o'clock in the morning and most of Konoha's aged population decided that Friday morning was the opportune time for a stroll in the park. Never mind that there were families with young children. Never mind that I would probably be discussed by passers by on their way home as the 'angry and uncontrollable young man in the park'.

I wanted to vent and I wanted to vent _now_.

I let my ever-growing Naruto side take over and yelled for all I was worth, fists clenched at my sides, face turned up to the sky.

I noted with some satisfaction that a few birds took flight.

I sat on the only log in the little clearing and put my head in my hands, tugging at my hair hard enough to pull out a few strands.

God, this was all so _fucked up_.

Tsunade… Tsunade…

I punched my thigh and uttered a string of curse words, some I was sure I'd made up on the spot.

I guess I should start from the start, yeah? Well, the start of this most recent turn of events that I seriously wasn't expecting. Not in a million years. Sure, I thought it'd be big – it _had_ to be for Tsunade to act how she was – but no way did I think it would be like this. It just made everything so much more... _odd_. For want of a better word. Odd.

So Sakura had stayed long enough to give me an explanation last night, but then Hinata rang crying her eyes out and she left pretty much as soon as she got the call. Left me in a stunned silence, turning over everything in my head and slowly going as mad as my brother, who came home in his gayest mood yet.

So because I seriously could _not_ handle him after Sakura's bombshell, I went to the first place I thought of – Gaara's. And then I got more explanations. So I went home, let it all simmer overnight, then when I woke up everything went _whoomph_ and now here I am, screaming at the top of my lungs in total frustration.

I growled into my hands and rubbed at my temples.

Think straight, Sasuke. Think it all through step by step. Progress is progress, no matter how weird it seems.

Long story short, Tsunade… she… well, she pretty much killed someone. Or thinks she did. Or something.

I think.

Shit.

I could say something more colourful, but my language had deteriorated somewhat lately, especially in the last few minutes, and I was trying to clean it up a little. So 'shit' would have to suffice, but you know what's more fitting.

Sakura told me that she was going through the employee files and that Tsunade's was _huge_. It took her forever to sift through and find something of any use, but when she did, she was glad she'd spent all those extra hours trawling through it.

It turns out that there was a really confusing incident to do with a patient called Dan someone, Sakura couldn't remember the last name, in the emergency room. The report said his heart stopped several times but Tsunade revived him all but once. There was something about internal bleeding as well, which made Tsunade's job a hell of a lot harder. She kept trying though, even after he was long gone.

The hospital and family laid no blame on her, and she was even thanked for her work. In the report Tsunade requested more training because she felt she was inadequate for the job and no longer trusted herself.

A couple of the other nurses in there said that she had some sort of personal attachment to him and went crazy after they lost him. Coincidentally, it was less than a week later that Tsunade put in her resignation and was never seen in a hospital again, despite her want for extra training.

So that was Sakura's bombshell. Gaara's was just what Chiyo had told him when he went to ask her about his own incident.

Apparently Tsunade, despite how obvious it was that it wasn't her fault in any way, assumed full responsibility for this Dan guy's death. She believed it was entirely her fault because it was she who failed to save him. Chiyo said that he was a lost cause the second he came in to the emergency room, but Tsunade put her personal feelings first and let it affect her too much.

She resigned because she couldn't handle the trauma and the constant reminder that she had been the one to fail treating him. She had requested that Chiyo not keep in contact with her, but the old doctor had kept tabs just in case something went wrong. She was thoughtful like that. Occasionally.

So Tsunade had practically disappeared for a while, then come back with her old friend and new partner Jiraiya under one arm and a teaching degree under the other. Then we knew the rest, apparently, after her obvious instalment as Konoha High's principal.

So that was it. That was Orochimaru's bait. He was using Tsunade's serious case of misplaced guilt as blackmail, most likely threatening to spill all if she let slip about him and whatever he was involved in.

Once we knew that, we were set. Set to fix this entire way-deeper-than-expected situation. But even if we did know, how were we supposed to convince Tsunade that she didn't _do_ anything, and therefore Orochimaru didn't have anything on her at all? She was obviously suffering from severe paranoia, otherwise I was sure Jiraiya or Shizune wouldn't talked some sense into her by now – provided they knew. She wasn't stupid. She would _know _it wasn't her fault. I just didn't get it.

I took a deep, calming breath and shoved my face in my hands, rubbing at my temples slowly.

I kept telling myself over and over that it was better Naruto didn't know what was going on. He would only stop us, saying we were endangering Tsunade and Jiraiya and possibly even Shizune. He wouldn't understand that we were endangering them by _not _dealing with it, and that there were more people involved now. We knew they were dangerous people, probably too dangerous for a bunch of high school kids, no matter how much support we had behind us. Well, me, anyway. But I had my sneaking suspicions that there was more to Kakashi than met the eye. He must've done _something_ shifty in his lifetime for him to be as sharp as he was, surely.

So maybe Naruto had a right to know what was going on, just as Sakura and the others had, but… but he _would_ try and stop us. I knew him too well by now to know that he wouldn't stand aside and let us uproot all a manner of problems just to kick a few troublemakers out, even if they were total arseholes that really deserved a lot worse than we could ever give them. Even if one of them was the reason for all the hell he'd been put through. Even if that same one was screwing up his entire family.

He wouldn't see it from our point of view. He just didn't do things like that. We were all the sort of people who got angry and held grudges, whereas Naruto got a little pissed off, dealt with it immediately, then got over it and tried his best to become friends with the person no matter how much they hated him. It was just the way he was, and he wouldn't _ever_ see it how we did.

Notice how I'm trying to convince myself, here? Yeah, the guilt's starting to set in a little now.

Shut up.

But he shouldn't have done what he did! He couldn't possibly be that blind, right? He couldn't _possibly_ live in that house and not know what I do now, even _that_ wasn't the end of it, I could tell. Not by a long shot. He couldn't be that completely switched off from everything happening around him to at least know that _something_ was up. Hell, I would've figured out in a second after just overhearing that fight between Tsunade and Jiraiya the other day and _I'd_ lived there all that time.

Then again, maybe he did realise it and knew that I'd do something, so was trying to steer me away from it.

I snorted.

Yeah, right. He had no idea.

I sighed heavily and glanced at my watch. Eleven. Damn, I'd only been here an hour… Blaah, I needed something to do! I couldn't just sit here stressing over everything that was going wrong and how annoyingly complicated things were getting. And how annoying Tsunade was unintentinally being. I suppose I could go to school… Ha. No. I could go make up with Naruto… Again: no. There was a difference between knowing you should do something and actually wanting to. Perhaps I could go and terrorise some small children, just for the fun of it. I stopped myself short. One Itachi in the family was more than enough.

I put my hands on the log either side of me and pushed myself up with a great amount of effort. I'd take a stroll around Konoha and perhaps go home. Nothing better to do, and there was absolutely no way I was giving in to the school option.

So I walked. Or strolled. Or sulked. Or even slouched. Sauntered? Perhaps I strutted. Why do all good adjectives for walking start with 's'?

I (clearly) let my mind wander to wherever it felt like while I walked. I hadn't done this in a long time, and man it felt good. Just to be on my own, going where I wanted and not caring about anyone else. I pushed all thoughts of Naruto, stupid teachers, annoying friends and crazy revelations out of my head and focused on the present.

Right now I was walking, minding my own business, enjoying a rare, warm sunny day, and enjoying myself.

Screw everyone else.

In fact, after a good half an hour or so I was in such a good mood that I even wandered in to Temari's shop. Well, one has to face their fears some day. As soon as I entered and she spotted me I realised that today probably wasn't the best of days and wow I'd really like to turn around and go home. I didn't know what it was about her that made her that terrifying… Perhaps it was her overly large cleavage that sort of just loomed out at you. Or her eyes. They weren't as scary as Gaara's, but still unusual. And angry. Oh and her strength. Seriously, she could beat the shit out of me with a hand tied behind her back, and I did _not_ go down easily.

Sometimes we got along really well, and other times she seemed to totally hate me. Then again, I was the same. I guess if I ever hurt Gaara she would rip my throat out, the same as if she ever hurt Shikamaru. The amount of care we had for each other was way below that which we had for others, so we didn't really mind if we openly hated each other one day and were talking like brother and sister the next.

Maybe _that_ was why she was so scary… crazy female mood swings.

But I still kept my face blank and my back straight, figuring I was being completely irrational despite Shikamaru's assurances that really, I wasn't.

For the thousandth time, I'm an Uchiha. And I do not run.

"Sasuke? What the hell are you doing here?"

I shrugged, hands in my pockets. "Just looking."

She frowned and crossed her arms. "'Just looking' my arse. You should be at school."

"I should."

"And why aren't you?"

"Because."

"Don't take that tone with me, young man. God, you Uchihas are good at brooding. Wish Gaara would take lessons from you, the psycho. He just goes all…" she threw her hands up. "Blergh."

I raised my eyebrows and snorted, slowly making my way over to the front counter while I looked around the shop. It was dark, with deep purple walls and disturbingly blood red covers on tables displaying all kinds of fans imaginable. Some were larger than me and others as small as the palm of my hand, but they were all beautiful. As scary as she was, Temari was talented.

"Very descriptive."

"Shut up, smart arse. You know what I mean."

"Hn."

I looked up from a red and silver fan that caught my eye over on the far wall just as Temari leaned forward on the counter, conspiratorial smirk in place. Yes, I was seriously reconsidering my earlier burst of stupidity in coming in here.

"So…?"

I lifted both eyebrows this time. "So what?"

She rolled her eyes. "So what's going on with you and Naruto? Heard ya had a fight." I stiffened immediately and her smirk only deepened. "Oh, touchy subject?"

"Shut up," I glared. "It's got nothing to do with you."

"Oh but Gaara's been complaining _constantly_ because apparently Naruto keeps going to talk to him about it. I'd make up with him soon – dunno how much longer he'll be alive."

"I _said_ it has nothing to do with you."

"Do I look like I care?"

"No, but –"

"So repeating it is going to do absolutely nothing. Now, I'm sick of my little brother stomping around the house being a grumpy shit. He's got a lot to deal with thanks to those Hyuugas, and he doesn't need your boyfriend whining to him all the time. Honestly, he just doesn't understand when someone's not interested, does he?"

I scowled. "He doesn't understand a lot of things."

She huffed. "Then make him understand, you twat. You're just creating more problems and no I don't care if I don't know anything about it. You're indirectly inconveniencing me."

"Oh, my deepest apologies, Temari-_san_," I snorted. "Like I care about you."

She stood up from her conspiratorial leaning on the counter and folded her arms across her rather large chest again. "Yeah well I don't care about you either. I care about Naruto though, and I most definitely care about my brother. So unless Naruto finds someone _else_ to whinge to, I'm not very happy with you."

"You and everyone else. I don't care." She was about to send another hateful remark my way (_why_ did I come in here in the first place? That's what you get for being in a good mood, Uchiha), but a thought suddenly hit me. "Hang on, what did you say about Gaara and the Hyuugas?"

Temari glared for a moment, probably pissed off at losing her chance to say what she had planned to, before sighing and pulling out one of her four ponytails, retying it neatly as she explained, "Love Boy and Hinata broke up. Apparently she was too clingy or something. Personally, I think it's because that other Hyuuga, the one I _really_ don't approve of, has been worming his way in. Oh, to be a teenager again!"

I raised an eyebrow, pretending to look less intrigued than I was. That would explain why Sakura ran off to Hinata's in such a hurry yesterday… "If I recall correctly, you _have_ a teenager."

"True, true, but it's not the same as _being_ one, you know."

I shrugged, opting not to point out that technically she was still a teenager and so had no right to complain because really, she wasn't _that_ old. "So, Gaara and Neji…?"

She held her hands up and shook her head in defence. "Hey, I know nothing. Just an older sister's speculations, that's all."

That got me interested. I leaned forwards to rest my elbows on the countertop, propping my chin up in my hands. And yep, there we go. From threats to talking like brother and sister… or snooty teenage girls. Most likely the latter.

"Oh?" I said questioningly, eyebrows raised.

She smirked and leaned in a little closer. "Well, he'd been coming around a lot more lately, and I'd heard them talking about Hinata and stuff. I heard she and Gaara broke up, and since then he's seriously been around _all_ the time."

"So are they…?"

She shook her head. "I don't _think_ so. Oh, the Hyuuga wants it. Definitely wants it. But I don't want him to force himself upon my poor, innocent little brother! I won't stand for it!"

I snorted. "He's not as innocent as you think, you know."

She gave me a quizzical look and tilted her head to the side. "Do I actually want to know?"

I rolled my eyes. "I just mean that I think Gaara's had his eye on the other Hyuuga for a while too."

Temari gasped. "You mean he was _cheating_?!"

I quickly hushed her out of that irrational fear everyone gets when someone shouts something too loud and there's an incredibly microscopic chance that someone either of you know will hear it.

"No, no, no, nothing like that. Just… interested, you know? That's probably why he broke it off with Hinata. He said it hasn't been great for a while, so he probably felt bad continuing it."

She nodded in understanding. "Yes, yes, that's much more sensible. I haven't raised him to be nasty like that."

I raised an eyebrow.

"I meant nasty as in _relationship_ nasty. He can threaten to kill as many people as he likes, for all I care, as long as he doesn't actually go through with it. All that fuss with police and the families and… Ergh."

"You do realise that's a little disturbing, don't you?"

She grinned. "Oh yes, definitely."

"Okay… But you don't know if they're together or not?"

She shrugged again. "Nope. Why so interested, anyway?" She waggled her eyebrows in a very Lee-like manner at me, leering suggestively. "Is there more to this little tiff with Naruto than we originally suspect, hmm?"

I rolled my eyes and dropped my left arm so that it lay flat on the counter top, tapping senseless rhythms with my fingers. "No, I just want to know whether I have to be terrified of seeing them jump each other in my presence. I've seen that happen enough times with other couples, and I sure as hell don't need any more mental scarring."

She laughed loudly and reached out to ruffle my hair. "Be afraid, Uchiha, be very afraid."

"But when they _do_ get together, you realise that Hyuuga will be around a lot more. I'm sure that's going to be fun."

She stopped chuckling immediately, grin switching to a disgusted frown. "Oh no, that won't do. I'm not a big fan of this male Hyuuga person." She suddenly gave a sad sigh. "Hinata was so shy and adorable. Her and Gaara were perfect for each other, then _he_ had to come along and just… invade!"

"Yes, it's all so unfair, isn't it?"

"Yes!"

She looked at me in total frustration, clearly at a loss for an explanation on just _why_ Gaara had to go from his perfect match, the girl that complimented yet contrasted him so well, to her fate-obsessed, pretty boy cousin. Then she noticed my smirk and obvious enjoyment out of seeing her suffer, and she smacked me one right in the arm.

Phwoar, that girl could punch.

I winced and rubbed the sore spot, shutting out her insults with a practiced ease. Well, one didn't befriend Sakura for several years without learning a few tricks.

"But enough about my brother and his love life!" Temari suddenly shouted, smacking a palm down on the counter with a loud sense of finality to her insulting tirade. "We should be amazed at the fact that he even _has_ one. Now why aren't you in school, ya slack arse? And be honest this time."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I just didn't feel like it. Too much shit going on."

"Avoiding Naruto?" She said in that all-knowing voice girls use a lot.

I huffed. "No."

She raised both eyebrows and nodded, clearly not believing me.

"I'm not!"

"Ooh yeah. Sure thing. I believe you."

"Shut up. I'm going. I have assignments to do."

She grinned and swiftly reached out a hand to ruffle my hair, only grinning wider at the glare I shot her way. "Okay, you go have fun with that. Gaara mentioned something this morning about coming round to your place, I dunno what for, but he'll probably swing by after school. I'll say goodbye to you now, in case you don't live through the night."

She made a move to hug me over the counter, pretending to be terribly upset, but I smacked her away. "Ha ha, very funny. Don't scare away your customers, now."

"Well I might actually get some now that you're leaving."

"Love you too."

She laughed loudly and waved me away, saying as I turned my back and made my way out, "Take it easy, yeah?" I waved over my shoulder. "And sort it out!"

Blah. Whatever.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something was off.

Not mouldy off, but that not-right kind of off.

The first thing I noticed as I opened the door was that there were two bursting suitcases by the front door. That in itself was strange enough, but was really weirded me out was the silence.

Now, there are many different types of silences.

There's the I-just-ran-over-your-dog-and-don't-know-how-to-break-it-to-you silence, which gives a very tense and awkward atmosphere. Also known as the 'awkward silence'. Then there's the frustrated silence, where two people want to say something to each other that they've been meaning to say for ages but just can't do it. There's comfortable silences, angry silences, I-can't-believe-I-just-slept-with-you silences, confused silences, disbelieving silences, stunned silences, I'm-pretending-you-don't-exist silences, contemplative silences – and then there's dead silences.

Dead silence was what greeted me.

Not frustrated silence of a now-where-did-I-put-my-toothbrush kind, or an I-don't-know-how-to-tell-you-but-I'm-moving-out silence.

Just plain old dead silence.

And in a house that Itachi co-inhabited, that type of silence was never a good thing.

So I edged inside carefully, quietly closing the door behind me, and waited for a sound – _any_ sound – that would give away my brother's whereabouts. For a full five minutes there was nothing. Nothing except Same's annoyed meowing, probably complaining that he hadn't been fed.

I was starting to get worried, the hairs standing up on the back of my neck in that tell-tale sign of danger, when there was a loud _thud_ from Itachi's room.

Great.

Orochimaru wants to kill me, Naruto probably does too to some extent, and now so does my brother.

Oh joy.

I was just about to mentally prepare myself for the inevitable confrontation, when out he came, bursting from his room in a whirlwind of black and red and jacket and hair and suitcase, but not insanity.

Okay, so there was still a lot of that flying around, but not the murderous insanity. Just a lot of… _flamboyant_ insanity.

"Right!" he declared loudly, dropping the (presumably) last suitcase down by the other two, this one fuller than the rest. "I'm going to Kisame's!"

My expression turned an uncontrollable mixture of hopeful and ecstatic. "Moving out?" I asked, probably _too_ innocently.

He shook his head, and I watched all my hopes fly out the window.

"No, silly, just for the week. I told you the other day that I had a week off."

"Oh, really? What a _pity_."

He nodded sadly. "I know, I know." Apparently insane people couldn't pick up on sarcasm. "It's going to be hard staying away for so long after all we've been through, but we'll be strong, Sasuke, just like Mum and Dad wanted us to be!"

And he was in full drama mode. Then again, he was never really _out_ of it. Everything he did was a big adventure, even watching the toast pop. Everything was 'you won't _believe_ what happened today' and loud voices and waving arms and all things attention-seeking. Sometimes it was harder to deal with than when he wanted to tear my limbs off.

"Now, the rules!"

I snorted. "Okay, fire away."

And if he said anything even moderately worthwhile, I certainly didn't hear it. In fact, I didn't hear a single word of what he said. I suppose I would just have leftover curry for dinner if he wasn't cooking. I'd need to buy some more cat food, just in case he made the birds extinct. Damnit, I should've done that today. Pity Naruto and I weren't particularly happy with each other – he could have stayed.

"And when I get back, we'll make a cake!"

I heard _that_.

I snapped back to reality, expression that of clear disbelief. "We'll what?"

"Make a cake!"

I blinked slowly, a little surprised. "O-Okay…"

Then there was a car horn outside, he was all over me in a flurry of 'stay safe!' and 'call me if you burn the house down' and 'don't let Same eat the chickens next door', and he was gone. Suitcases and brother in Kisame's car, gone for the week.

Well, until Itachi popped his head back inside and said, "I'll be back in a few hours. I'm on my lunch break at the moment and just thought I'd get my stuff to Kisame's now. _Please_ don't break anything while I'm gone. I haven't got everything yet."

"You don't?"

"No."

"What else could you possibly fit in there?"

"In where?"

"Your suitcases."

"What suitcases?"

"The ones in Kisame's car."

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind."

"I swear you're crazy, sometimes." Aah, the standard course of a conversation with my brother. "Anyway, I'll be back around five-ish, so make sure you're still in one piece then. After that I don't care. And _don't_ have any wild parties in that time."

I rolled my eyes, pointing out that a 'wild party' wasn't a very likely event in such a small amount of time.

He just rolled his eyes right back at me and said, "You're teenagers. You can manage anything with the right amount of determination."

I blinked.

True, true.

And then he was gone for real this time, and I looked around blankly, not quite sure where to start. Of course, he would be back once his work day actually finished, but hopefully that would only be for a couple of minutes while he grabbed the last couple of completely insignificant things that he wouldn't even use before he was away for an entire week.

An entire week. Alone. No one insane hovering around. Just me.

I turned my eyes to somewhere vaguely above my ceiling and said a word of thanks.

Now… what to do…?

Well, copious amounts of chocolate was always a good place to begin. I'd been craving it and a decent rest the second I'd walked in the door, and planned to get exactly what I wanted – when, of course, my plans were thwarted. By the phone. In the middle of the day. Who the hell calls at one o'clock in the afternoon on a week day? None other than my (or my brother's) dearest friend Tayuya.

Yes, her. Remember that feisty one with the appalling language and bright pink hair from New Zealand? A yet-to-be-decided-on-it's-negative-or-positive-status surprise, that was for sure.

Well, at least it wasn't Sakon. That prancing transvestite was a handful at the best of times.

"Tayuya? What do you want?" I asked, after it clicked who I was actually speaking to.

The scoff that came down the line was loud and clear. "Polite as always, I see. I'd talk to you, but I wanna have a chat with the psycho one, if you please."

I was quiet for a couple of seconds. "Is it just me, or was that sentence lacking in several expletives?"

"Shuddup and get me your brother, twerp."

"Aaw, where'd all your charity go from last holidays, huh? You're usually so nice to me."

"I happen to be in a _very_ bad mood today, unlike any other time I've been with you, so damn well get your brother on the line before I'm forced to take drastic measures."

I snorted. "Like what? Swearing at me a little more than usual?"

"Seriously, Uchiha, get Itachi on the phone _now_. There's some serious shit going down and I bloody well need to speak with him, got it?"

I whistled loudly, a little impressed. "Well you got that right – there is some serious shit going down, but I'm afraid Itachi can't help you with it. He's not here, anyway. It's the last day of rehearsing before the break. Can't say when he'll be back."

"Fuck!" _There_ it is. "Well _you_ sound like you know what's going on. Where the fuck is Orochimaru? He sent his lapdog down here a while ago and said he was shutting us down, the bastard, and I want some god damn answers. He's not meant to shut _us_ down! That wasn't how it was supposed to work!"

I raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't know how it started, but as it stands I think Orochimaru's screwed up big time somewhere along the line and now he's paying the price. He was blackmailing my principal to keep quiet because I'm pretty sure she knows something about whatever he's involved in. Do you know? Is it something to do with the Akatsuki? Because everyone there is saying they're leaving after the last show or something and they're all getting second jobs. I don't know, maybe there's just no money coming in anymore and everyone's getting paranoid. Whatever happened must be serious, though, because you know what? The Yakuza's involved. No, I'm serious. They really are. Sharingan's probably not far behind, if Shisui has any say in it. And my teacher's are more badarse than I thought. Oh, and do you know Sasori and Deidara? From the theatre? Yeah, they tried to kill two of my friends. I don't think they're really going to get away with that, or anything else they've done – which we're yet to find out. It's all a little bit complicated, especially since we don't even know half the story yet and have no idea what the connection is with the Akatsuki, but in any case, I think your branch has closed down because there's no money coming in to support you and Orochimaru needs all the help he can get because he's shit. Sorry."

A stunned silence followed my sudden outburst, but boy oh _boy_ did that feel good. I'd done well at suppressing it all overnight and today, pushing it to the back of my mind and forgetting about it, but there's always _one_ thing that pushes you that tiny bit too far and it all spills in one huge gush of word vomit.

Then I realised what I'd done and hung up the phone with a loud _slam_.

Breathing heavily, I dashed straight into the kitchen and made a beeline for the cupboard next to the fridge.

Chocolate. I needed chocolate, and I needed a hell of a lot of it.

I found my stash, and noted with a twitching eye that it looked a little smaller than last time – I'd kill him. Either of them. Whoever did it was going to die. I hurried over to the armchair and sat down heavily, suddenly just a little freaked out at what I'd done.

Now, I'm sure that wasn't the most intelligent thing to do.

Breathe, Sasuke, breathe. It's not all bad. It's good you got that out; it really put some things into perspective for you, didn't it? Yes, it did, as of now. No harm in her knowing. She probably wouldn't believe you anyway, so what's the problem?

No problem, of course not.

Ah, crap.

Now she'd go running to Shisui and he'd give me a good talking to about spilling information and he'd tell Father and I wouldn't be allowed to run Sharingan because he's be disappointed in me and not trust me anymore. Or maybe I'd get a call from Father himself. Hah, that'd be the day.

And then the phone rang again, and a barely-felt shiver ran down my spine. If that was my father, I'd… Well, I'd have to get a job in fortune telling, wouldn't I?

I got to my feet a little warily, hoping against hope that it wasn't Tayuya calling back in a fit or my father calling for the first time in a fit. Either way wasn't going to be a great deal of fun, I was sure.

I answered with a meek, "Hello?" and was relieved a thousand times over to hear Shisui's smooth, calm voice replying.

"Sasuke? Have I called at a bad time?"

I shrugged. "No, except I just blurted everything to someone working for Orochimaru. Why?"

"Oh, just because I didn't think to consider time differences before I rang. It's… hell, I don't even _know_ what time of the morning it is here you did _what_?"

"Told everything to Tayuya, who happens to wor-"

"Oh, well _that's_ okay then. You should've just said it was her. I was ready to come over there and strangle you."

I was silent for a moment. So… when did the verbal beating start? "Wait, what?"

Shisui chuckled quietly. "She's been helping me out the last few days. We've been doing nothing but sorting through files and snooping around. She's actually quite good, you know."

I blinked slowly. "But… Then why did she just ring to ask Itachi why they got shut down over there and what was happening?"

"I guess she was just prying for some more info. Speaking of your brother, he's not around, is he?"

I shook my head slowly, still a little surprised that _Tayuya_ of all people was helping, before realising he couldn't see me and giving voice to my answer.

"Good. I don't really want him to hear – on second thoughts, he has this week off from the theatre, doesn't he? He was saying something about a rest week before the actual performance last time I was there. Something about staying with his boyfriend for a while?"

"Uh, yeah… Yeah, today's his last day then he has all next week off. He's going to Kisame's for the week after work tonight."

My cousin clicked his teeth loudly for a couple of seconds in the silence before seemingly coming to a decision. "Good… Good… Make sure you're home on Sun- hai?"

I frowned at the sudden interruption, then realised someone must have come into the room. Shisui's voice floated through the receiver.

"Hai… Sasuke-kun… Eh? Tōsan, I already told you no… Gomen nasai, I'll talk to him… I know, I know… _I know_."

I strained my ears to hear my father's voice, now that I knew it was him, but I couldn't hear a thing. Damnit. I knew they were talking about me. Father was probably saying he wanted Shisui to beat sense into me if he had to and drag me by the ear back to New Zealand. I wouldn't put it past him _or_ Shisui… if I didn't know that my cousin wanted to do the exact opposite.

"Sorry, Sasuke, Tōsan was telling me off."

"For not convincing me fast enough?"

"Sorry?" The surprise was clear.

"You never got a definite answer out of me, did you? I'm guessing he's not particularly happy about it."

Shisui sighed loudly. "Sasuke, I can't talk about this here. Just make sure you're home on Sunday, please."

Then the line went dead.

Well at least he'd said 'please'.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" I asked in mock delight, bowing low as Gaara and Neji entered the house.

Gaara just looked at me blankly while Neji said, "Just thought you might like an update, that's all."

I smirked. "An update in what, exactly?"

He shot me one of _those_ looks, clearly understanding exactly what I was talking about, but chose to ignore the snide comment. "Oh, you know… school, the Terrible Trio, the play – all that."

I closed the door behind them once they'd removed their shoes, my interest suddenly perking. "The play? Jeez, I'd completely forgotten about it. Haven't exactly had a normal rehearsal in a while – it always seems to end in Orochimaru wanting to beat me up."

Gaara snorted. "I thought you did the beating up."

I shrugged. "Half and half, really. You guys want a drink? We've only got water at the moment – I'm waiting for Itachi to come back so we can restock." Who ever said I was too rude to be a good host?

They both nodded their agreement and we made our way into the kitchen, where I pulled out the glasses from the cupboard and filled all three with water. Oh yes, the play. The dreaded play. Crap, I hadn't even though of that… Now, didn't that just complicate things even further?

Great. Make out with your boyfriend-probably-only-by-name-now on stage. Definitely my idea of a good time. I gave a mental snort.

"So, when is this thing?"

"Next week," Neji replied bluntly.

I nearly dropped the glass I was handing over to him. "Next week? Are you serious?" Then I smacked myself in the forehead. Of _course_ it was next week, the last week of term. Way to be stupid, Sasuke.

"Yeah, second last day of term," he said. "Better get practicing."

I shot him a look and his smirk vanished instantly. "There will be no _practicing_, thank you very much."

Gaara growled as I slid a glass across to him. "Yes there will be. It's only been two days and I'm going insane. The damn kid refuses to leave me alone, so you've got until the day of the play to make up or out before I kill him. You know I'll do it."

"Seriously hurt him, anyway." Neji interjected warily.

"No, no, I'll kill him," Gaara reassured us.

"Oh will you now?" I raised both eyebrows at him over the rim of my glass.

"Didn't think you cared."

"An argument doesn't warrant me wanting him dead, you know."

"It does in my books."

"Well yes, you're Gaara. We can make an exception."

He slammed his glass onto the kitchen bench with a glare. "And what's that supposed to mean, Uchiha?" he snarled.

"It means –"

"It means shut up or I'll smack you both. No one cares."

There was a short silence during which Gaara and I had an eye war with each other, before I decided I couldn't be bothered and asked what had been bugging me since Neji first brought up the performance.

"Why is Tsunade still agreeing to this? She said she was taking a stand now, so why is she still letting him get away with it?"

Neji shrugged. "There's nothing really wrong with it."

I tried not to clench my fists too tight. If you knew what I knew then you'd be eating your words the second they left your mouth, Hyuuga. Instead, I said with narrowed eyes, "Seriously though, a year ten _gay_ performance?"

"Is the gay boy trying to say she shouldn't allow it?" Gaara asked mockingly.

"No." I'm saying she shouldn't allow an easy way for a pervert to get off when she _knows_ that's all it is. And a way to show _he_ had control over _her_, and she had no say in it. No say in _anything_ anymore, because of that stupid misunderstanding hanging over her head.

Neji was watching me curiously. "Sasuke, do you actually not want to do this…?"

I scowled. "Not particularly, no. I don't fancy snogging someone I would currently like to punch in the face, especially not in front of his family and our friends." And the pervert.

"I thought Tsunade and Jiraiya didn't care?"

"They don't, as far as I know – Jiraiya was just surprised."

"Then what's the issue?"

I whipped my head around to snap at Gaara's provocative tone. "Because I don't _want_ to. I just _don't want to_, got it?"

"Wow, you must really not like him at the moment."

My fists clenched so that the knuckles were white. "Sabaku…" I said warningly.

He quirked the blank space where his eyebrow should have been. "I told you you were going to make up. So far it's not looking too great for Naruto…" he trailed off in a voice that reminded me of the previous 'threat'.

Sure it was completely empty (well, except for Neji's part about 'seriously hurting him'), but still, it was annoying. "Don't interfere. You don't understand what happened."

"Yes I do. You lost it over nothing, he got upset and you chucked it at him, voila – fighting couple."

I almost snarled my next words, trying my best to keep the anger levels down. "It wasn't _'nothing'_. I said you didn't understand, so quit thinking you do."

"But –"

"Why can't y–"

"_So_, how about Sasori flipping out yesterday, huh?" Neji said loudly to cut me off, blatantly telling us both to shut up a second time.

He gave us both a disappointed motherly look, scarily resembling a mixture of Tenten and Sakura, and stared us both down until we were looking at our hands awkwardly.

Gaara cleared his throat, giving Neji a somewhat apologetic look. Oh they were so obvious.

"Uh, yeah. I guess…"

I forced my anger aside and made myself look interested. "What happened?"

Neji smirked. "You know how Gaara was whinging about nothing working on Deidara to piss him off?" I nodded. "Well last lesson we tried something new."

I huffed. "Like what?"

"We were nice to them." Gaara wrinkled his nose. "Disgusting, really. Sasori couldn't handle it. Kept saying we were up to something."

I couldn't hide the breathy laugh that escaped, and asked with a small smile, "Were you?"

Neji shook his head and waved his glass around for a refill, which I did as he explained, "No, we really weren't. No ulterior motives other than to piss him off to no end. He wouldn't hear any of it, though, and tried to give us detentions before he realised he had no grounds."

Gaara gave a short laugh. "He was looking over his shoulder for the rest of the day, and every time we saw him we just nodded our heads and went on our way without a word. Must've looked hell suspicious."

I let my smile widen as I imagined the scenario. "What about Deidara?"

Gaara shook his head. "Nah, don't have him until Monday, but I'm sure the pretty boy would've told him. If only we had've realised from the start that it was this easy, it would've been way better. Now there's only two more lessons to have our fun."

Neji patted him on the back. "Ah well, I'm sure there'll be plenty of other teachers you can harass later on."

"I still say we stick bits of metal upright on his chair."

I snorted.

"No, Gaara, that's called violence, and it will land us in detention."

Gaara gave him an exasperated look. "And how many of _those_ have I been in?"

"You may have, but I haven't and I intend on keeping it that way. So keep your spiky bits of metal to yourself and keep smiling at him."

I whistled, sounding impressed. "You_ smiled_? Whoa, that's gotta scare the shit out of him. Must be having nightmares now."

Gaara scowled. "Ha ha, Uchiha, hilarious. How about next class you have some intelligent input and we'll all walk out with slack jaws, huh?"

I narrowed my eyes dangerously, more than ready to have another verbal war with him (in a weird way I felt myself _wanting_ it), but for the third time in under an hour Neji cut us off angrily.

"Oh would you both _shut_ _up_? We came here to talk, not go at each other's throats. Jeez." Neji rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "Fate must be trying to tell me something, I'm serious. There's gotta be a reason for me putting up with you two."

Gaara punched him in the arm (softer than usual, I couldn't help noticing) at the same time as I reached over the bench and smacked him in the ear. "Shut up," we said in unison, but I for one noticed the tension dissipate immediately. I knew Gaara was just trying to piss me off. Repeatedly. Unnecessarily.

Bastard.

Before Neji had a chance to make any sound other than a surprised grunt (I wouldn't dare call it a squeal), I turned to face the sink, dumping my glass into it as I said, "Besides, we all know the reason you put up with _him_ is 'cause you want him bad."

Two loud splutters came from the other side of the bench, and I turned back to see them staring at each other in barely concealed shock, and – wait, was that _water_ all over the bench? I couldn't help but grin maliciously. Hah, first time I'd ever disgruntled both of them that much at the same time.

"No need to hide it – look who you're talking to," I said with a lazy smile.

Gaara clenched his fists slowly, opening and closing them in what looked to be a method of restraint. That only made me smile wider.

"Touched a nerve, have I? My bad. But really, don't you think it's better out in the open?"

"Uchiha, there is _nothing_ –"

"Oh, don't go giving me that crap. I talked to your sister, you know. Sisters know everything."

Gaara's eyes narrowed further and his voice dropped to a threatening level. "What did she say?"

"Ooh, just that you broke up with Hinata for this one here." I gestured to Neji, who had paled more than usual and was looking shocked and surprised.

Hang on…

"You did what?" Neji rounded on Gaara, jaw hanging open.

Gaara looked down at his hands that were now unclenched and flat against the bench. He mumbled something under his breath and I finally caught on.

Oh… oops.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that…" Neji's voice got a little quieter, probably too nervous to speak properly. Aah, I remember it all well.

"I said it doesn't matter."

"Oh yes it does! You broke up with my cousin, and I said at the start that if you hurt her there'd be hell to pay."

I started to slowly back out of the kitchen, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"I didn't hurt her – we talked it out and she understood perfectly."

"But you still ditched her –"

"For you."

I made it out of the kitchen and whistled loudly once I was safe. Well, wasn't that romantic? I sniggered to myself and was just about to sit down on the armchair I'd now claimed as my own when Neji shouted, "Uchiha! Get your sorry arse back in here!"

I rolled my eyes and sat down anyway. "I just figured we'd be here a while, so we might as well get comfy."

There was a short silence while they obviously considered my words, then a quiet scraping of chairs against tile as they agreed. There were some quiet murmurings and then a long pause where I fumbled a guess as to what they were doing and frowned a little.

I'd prefer it if they didn't do that in my house, really. Especially with me in my current boyfriend-or-not-boyfriend situation – and don't you say I brought it on myself.

They finally came out into the lounge room, looking as self-conscious as two heartless guys could be, and sat down heavily on the couch, sort of close and sort of not. Honestly, they'd just snogged in my kitchen and they knew I knew it – why the embarrassment?

I heard my phone ring in my room and jumped up as soon as they'd sat down, excusing myself and not bothering to tell them why they really shouldn't be on the couch. I shot into my room and found my phone under a pile of clothes on my bed.

I answered it before checking the caller, something I almost never do, and my heart froze when I heard a weak voice from the other end of the line.

"Huh, didn't think you'd answer it."

I clenched my jaw. "I didn't check who was calling."

"So you wouldn't have answered if you knew it was me?"

I sighed heavily. "Naruto, why are you calling?"

"…You know," he said after a long pause, "I have no idea."

Another long pause while I scrabbled for something to say. "Well, Gaara and Neji are here, so… uh…"

"I just thought you might want to explain."

I creased my brow. "Well no, not really."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not worth it." I wanted to hit myself. Possibly the worst thing to say in this situation. Ever. You suck, Sasuke.

"You mean _we're_ not worth it."

I sat on the bed with a soft _thwump_, flopping back onto my pillows as I tangled my fingers in my hair. "No, I didn't mean –"

"Then what _did_ you mean?"

"I… I don't know."

The silence stretched on again, with us just listening to each other's breathing. It would've been weird, but with Naruto nothing was weird, even when we were fighting like this.

"What's going on, Sasuke?" Naruto eventually whispered.

"I don't know."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"I don't know."

"When are you going to know?"

I chewed on my lip, thinking hard. "Soon," I whispered finally, before hanging up on him.

I chucked the phone somewhere amongst the mess of my bed and groaned loudly into my hands, not letting myself think on it and forcing myself to just stand up and deal with it later. I had people over and it was rude to be spacing out while they were here.

Most pathetic excuse ever.

I took a couple of deep breaths to push Naruto out of my mind good and proper before stepping out of my room and what the _hell_? That couch must mess with people's minds, I swear!

I was about to cough loudly and comment on the speed with which they were taking this (honestly, I was impressed. Beat Naruto and I by a long shot) when all three of us were interrupted with the arrival home (again) of none other than my brother.

"Oh my God, Sasuke!" Still with the same tone of voice. "You won't _believe_ the kind of d- why are people sitting on the couch? No, why are people _making out _on the couch? I thought you had like, police tape around that thing. Did you get it cleaned?"

I snorted at Gaara and Neji's confused and embarrassed looks after they'd sprung apart, before glancing down at my feet as Same made a mad dash away from the door at Itachi's suddenly loud entrance. "Nope. Did you?"

He shook his head, twirling part of his ponytail between his fingers in a very girly way. "Noo…? Was I supposed to?"

I smirked. "Well I'd prefer it if yes, you did get it cleaned, and then refrained from having sex on it ever again. I don't know _how_ many times that's happened, but your bedroom isn't that far away, you know."

The way Gaara and Neji flew from the couch to the floor cushions was possibly one of the funniest things I'd seen all week. Both had looks of utter shock and disgust, and launched themselves off the offending piece of furniture as fast as possible. And don't forget Neji's _squeak_ of disgust. Oh yes, this one was a squeak all right.

Itachi watched them curiously, but I just wandered over to the armchair and let Same curl up on my lap.

He shook his head and turned back to me. "Well anyway – you wouldn't _believe_ the kind of day I had!"

I gave a small smile crossed with a wince. Yep, it seemed he was stuck as Flamboyant Brother today. Sometimes I just couldn't escape it. "Itachi, I saw you a few hours ago. Surely it can't have changed that much."

Kisame appeared behind him in the doorway, car keys in hand, folding his arms and leaning against the frame with a roll of the eyes. "It doesn't take much to make his day into the most amazing thing that's ever happened, you know."

Itachi threw him a you-stay-out-of-this look and tossed his hair over his shoulder, coming up to the couch and putting both palms down on the armrest to look at each of us in turn seriously. "Trust me, it changed a _lot_."

I raised an eyebrow, suddenly slightly nervous and not really sure why. "Oh really?"

"Yes really."

I sighed as Neji and Gaara gave me amused looks. "Out with it, then."

Itachi grinned, leaning further forwards. "_Well_, you know Orochimaru, right?"

We all nodded.

Itachi looked at me. "And you know your boyfriend, right?"

I snorted. "No, I don't."

He frowned. "That little blonde kid, spiky hair, blue –"

"Of course I know him, dumbarse!"

"Well why did you say you didn't?"

"Never mind him, Itachi, keep going," Kisame interjected, barely holding back a laugh.

Itachi lifted an eyebrow at me before moving one hand to place it on his hip in that good old gay stance that Sakura said I loved so much. "So anyway, you will not _believe_ what I heard today!" He paused for dramatic effect. The sad thing is, we were all slightly interested. "Sasori, Deidara and Orochimaru had a _fight_!" he gasped, but we all stared at him blankly.

"Uh… yay?" Gaara said sarcastically.

Itachi rolled his eyes, picking up the bag that he'd dropped beside him and starting to head off to his room. "Well _fine_, if you don't want to know then I won't waste my time with you." And with a 'hmph' he flounced off.

Yes, he flounced. You know he did.

I sighed. "Sorry, Itachi, we're all dying to know. Come back and tell us."

He stopped walking, but didn't turn around. "Really?"

Neji smirked. "Really."

Gaara pretended to smack his head on the coffee table he and Neji were seated beside, but quickly forced a semi-interested look on his face when Itachi whirled around with a huge grin.

"Well in that case, I'll just _have_ to tell you then, won't I?" No pause for a response, of course, not that he would've really been expecting one. I saw Kisame put his head in his hands out of the corner of my eye. "So the thing is, right, Sasori and Deidara _never_ fight. They're too busy shagging each other to fight, jeez. So like, it's a big deal, you know?"

We all nodded dumbly, obviously not impressed at the sudden knowledge that two _more_ of our teachers were…'romantically linked'.

"But you'll never guess what they were fighting about!"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, tell us."

"Naruto! How weird is that, right?" I didn't have time to be surprised before he ploughed right on, spilling pretty much everything. "And someone else was mentioned too – Tsunade, I think. So yeah, they were all yelling and whatnot and there was all this commotion and oh my God, Sasuke, I don't know if you want to hear this or not, but… Orochimaru…" He dropped his voice a little, but I could tell he was still insanely excited over his newfound gossip.

My stomach clenched uncomfortably, and I shook my head hurriedly. "Itachi…" I warned.

"He, well… he –"

"Itachi!"

"He _does things_ to Naruto. Can you believe that? Sweet little Naruto, being defou-"

"_Itachi_!" I shouted, taking the few necessary steps towards him and pushing him down onto the couch, fist gripping his shirt collar and eyes staring down at him angrily. "Don't you _ever_ speak about that in front of anyone else again, you hear me? That's not your story to tell, and if that leaks I swear… I swear I _will_ kill you."

He blinked rapidly at me, shocked into silence.

I let him go with a growl and turned to Gaara and Neji, who were staring at me with blank faces. "And the same goes for you two. Don't ever talk about it. Ever."

They both nodded slowly, and I could see the cogs in their brains turning as a few things fell into place for them. My insistence at finding out everything possible about the teachers, doing everything I could to find out about Tsunade and getting more people involved just to see them gone. They would've known I had a driving force behind me other than 'oh, I just don't like them very much', and now they knew.

Damnit, they knew, they were smart enough to figure out the connections. All thanks to Itachi and his stupid big mouth.

I gave Kisame a glare, warning him that the same fate awaited him if he ever decided to talk about it, and he held up his hands in surrender, shaking his head.

Good.

I faced Itachi again to see him still with his hands gripping the couch cushions for dear life. "Tell me everything else you heard them arguing about, but don't mention Naruto. What did they say about Tsunade?"

Itachi made a couple of choked sounds before taking a deep breath and saying quietly, "Your eyes are scary, bro. What's going on?"

I shook my head. "Not important. Now what did they say?"

He looked a little sceptical, but kept talking anyway. "Nothing much, once they stopped accusing each other of selling out and backstabbing – they didn't say what about, it all became sort of muffled. But while they were yelling they mentioned something about experiments and torture and stuff, which they shouldn't have talked about because they're not _allowed_ to talk about that stuff. And Sasori told Orochimaru off for… uh… that thing I can't mention, Orochimaru went off at him and hence the yelling. Once they calmed down all I gathered was that they were trying to find somewhere to stay. I thought Sasori and his bitch were living in a hotel, but apparently it's not up to standard or something so they have to move. Oh my _God_, and they totally chucked like, the biggest tanty _ever_ and stormed out of the room after saying they'd had enough and were leaving. Because, you know, everyone got all angry and accusatory again and one of them said something like 'We don't wanna be hunted down no more, yo' and they're _leaving _the Akatsuki! Actually leaving. Like, good and proper leaving. Not even sticking out the rest of the show or anything, even though _everyone_ knows that Tobi and Pein have something up their sleeves. Or maybe Orochimaru's the one with something up his sleeve, I don't know." His hand flew to his mouth."Oh goodness, something's happening, isn't it? I _knew _it! You've got that look about you that just _oozes_ secrets."

I wasn't really listening from the 'experiments' and 'torture' stuff onwards, to be honest. I completely ignored him, opting instead to have a mild inner panic attack. Oh great, we had _total_ freaks on our hands. I looked to Gaara and Neji to see what they thought, but they were both staring at either the tabletop or their hands, frowning deeply.

"Did you hear _anything_ else?" I asked. "Anything at all?"

Itachi shrugged. "Nah, just a brief mention of some guys called Jiraiya and Kabuto."

"What did they say about Jiraiya?"

"I don't know, Sasuke! I don't remember!"

I groaned. "Well you _should_!"

"How was I supposed to know it was important? Oh, you're so unfair and mean!" He pouted and folded his arms, trying to pull the puppy eyes on me.

"Just…" I ran a hand through my hair, tugging at it in frustration. "Okay, I'm sorry, but was anyone else mentioned? Any more names? I need to know _everything_, Itachi."

He shook his head. "No, I have no idea. I couldn't make sense of it so I didn't bother remembering it. Next time I'll be sure to pay more attention, _Your Highness_." He 'tch'ed and flicked his hair. "Jeez, talk about moody."

I chose to ignore him, coughing lightly to get Gaara and Neji's attention. I jerked my heard towards my room when they looked up, indicating that we needed to talk. They both nodded and got up without a word, all of us filing past Itachi. I raised a hand to Kisame in a sort of farewell, and just as I was about to close the bedroom door, my brother suddenly made a gasp of surprise.

"Oh yeah! Does 'Zabuza' mean anything to you?"

* * *

**AN:** I think I might be getting better at cliffies. Peheheh. And just a tip: Pay _close attention_ to what Tayuya and Itachi said (in his huge-arse rant). It will help later on and make things less OMGWTF for you later ^^

And I'm really sorry this was so long. I lost heart halfway through while writing it and couldn't delete anything. The whole Temari bit is so irrelevant it's insane but I liked it. Same with the GaaNeji bit. Aeigh. My bad! Next chapter is better, I promise!!

~WY


	19. Puppet Talk

This chapter is full of MAJOR HAPPENINGS! ZOMGZWTFNOWAI! –flails-

So please enjoy, my lovelies. It took me a very painfully long time to write. It was almost as painful as this chapter title. Aeigh.

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

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19. PUPPET TALK

Worst. Day. Ever.

I was so distracted at work that I spilled coffee on some old man and mixed up three orders. _Three_! I couldn't stop thinking about Itachi and his sudden dumping of 'oh, all your plans have been found out and you're _fucked_'.

Three bombshells in as many days was too much for me to handle.

Lucky Satsuki noticed and called Hiro in to replace me an hour before the end of my shift, otherwise Matsuri would have died. I'm not kidding. I would have killed her without a second thought if she bugged me for _one_ more second about 'Gaara-kun'.

I stared up at the clear covering of our outdoor setting, sipping an orange juice and calming down to think things over before everyone arrived. I'd changed the day of the next 'meeting' to today instead of tomorrow after Itachi brought up Zabuza. The situation suddenly became a hell of a lot more urgent, and Kakashi and Iruka needed to speak with him _now_.

So Itachi really didn't know anything, the useless git, but just the fact that Zabuza was mentioned means they knew, or at least suspected what we were doing. Or that something was happening, at least, because we weren't _doing_ anything, really, just... I don't know! But the fact still stood that they knew something was up and it would probably take them half a second to make connections to Iruka and Kakashi then to us. No wonder Sasori and Deidara were so freaked out at Neji and Gaara's sudden… non-smartarseyness. (1)

The minutes ticked by as I sat there, and not too long after I finished my juice Sakura and Shikamaru walked in. I'd told them to come, figuring Sakura definitely had a right to be there after what she did for me, and one more genius on the job really couldn't hurt.

"Hey, what's up?" Sakura asked, squeezing my shoulder as she sat down next to me.

I shook my head and straightened, sitting properly in my chair. "No, nothing. You'll find out soon, I guess."

"Are you sure it's still okay that we're here? I know these sorts of things are better with less people involved…" Shikamaru put in, ever the voice of logic.

I shook my head again, staring at my empty glass. "No, I want you guys here. I've left you out of everything and it's about time you were included. It was more my selfishness that kept you away, but the water's too deep to get out now."

"A shitload deeper than you thought it would be, right?"

I nodded grimly. Hell yes it was deeper than I originally thought. If I'd known it was this messy I would've high-tailed it as soon as possible.

… Not.

I knew myself too well to say that with any drop of seriousness. If I'd known I still would've stayed, it just would've been over by now. Naruto would be safe, we wouldn't be fighting, people wouldn't be trying to kill two of my closest friends and I wouldn't be endangering other people's lives as well.

_Knowing_ what it was all about wouldn't have changed anything at all.

Thanks to that stupid damn useless attachment to Naruto and the ridiculous need to protect him.

"It's a shitload deeper than we _all_ thought it would be, Nara."

We looked up as Neji and Gaara strolled in, Neji pushing Gaara forward with a hand on the small of his back, I noticed. Sakura sent me a look, but I ignored her. Like she didn't know already. Pssht.

"Which is precisely why," Neji continued from Gaara's first statement, "we all need as much help as we can get." He nodded in greeting to Shikamaru and Sakura as he sat down on my other side next to Gaara. "Uchiha didn't say you'd be coming."

I shrugged. "Sorry, slipped my mind."

"Not surprising."

I almost winced at the not-so-subtle reminder of how much more treacherous the situation had become in the last twenty-four hours, but held it back just in time. I volunteered to get drinks for us all, and wandered back inside to tell Hiro. I glanced at the time as I walked in, seeing that Iruka and Kakashi-sensei were almost fifteen minutes late. I should've known to tell Kakashi we were meeting an hour before we actually were so that he might be on time for once.

I sighed and shook my head. Hopeless, that man. Absolutely hopeless.

I gave Hiro the order, nodded to a couple of the more regular customers, snorted at Satsuki's attempts to make coffee, and subtly tripped Matsuri up on my way out.

What? She was being stalkerish again – I had to do something before Gaara did. _That_ would just end in broken bones and a lot of screaming.

We made small talk between ourselves for a while, getting used to having all of us together – it hadn't happened it a long time. I tended to separate Sakura and Shikamaru from Gaara and Neji. Not intentionally, of course, but it always just seemed to happen that way. It wasn't that one of us didn't like one of the others, it just seemed to always turn out like that, despite us all being friends.

It was good to get all our minds working together on the same thing, though – four geniuses make it that much easier, I tell you. Sakura doesn't count, of course. She wasn't stupid, she just… wasn't remarkably intelligent. Come on, people, she has pink hair. No one in their right mind voluntarily dyes their hair pink and expects to still be treated with credibility.

The minutes ticked by and we all began to get a little restless. We'd gone over the story at least three times by now, and couldn't come up with any way it could have been a misunderstanding, or what we were supposed to do if we really had been found out. We did have fun imagining how freaked out Sasori and Deidara were from Gaara and Neji's kindness, though, and even Shikamaru said he'd join in for the last couple of lessons.

"Might be worth the effort," he'd said.

I glanced at my phone to check the time yet again, and noted with a frown that they were just on an hour late. I was about to check if I should call Kakashi and see if it was worth us hanging around, when they both strolled in – Iruka looking embarrassed and apologetic, and Kakashi looking like he had some secret he was just dying to tell us but wouldn't because he liked to screw with our heads.

Standard Kakashi look, in other words.

"Sorry we're so late, everyone. You see, Iruka here just _had_ to go this way that he _insisted_ was a short cut, but it turned out to be a crazy –"

"Save it, Eye Patch," Sakura cut him off. "None of us care what you've concocted this time."

Kakashi winked. "I see she's breaking down those Student-Teacher barriers already. Good, good, getting right into the spirit of things."

Iruka sighed loudly.

I'd warned both teachers that we'd be having some more company when I rang them to change the date, and all they'd said was "the more the merrier". Never mind "the more the increase in possibility of letting something slip and being hounded by crazy-arse yakuza psychos that we shouldn't be dealing with in the first place".

Pssht. That's Kakashi for you.

"So!" Said teacher clapped his hands loudly, pulling up a chair. "What's news?"

We all gave him blank looks at his cheery tone. Was he serious?

He kept grinning at us all, and when we failed to give him an answer he continued. "If I recall correctly, then Sasuke will be leaving us in two weeks and three days, there is only one more week left of school, therefore leaving us with very limited time to 'destroy our opponents', if you will. I do believe Tsunade's background has been discovered, so that's one reason to tick off. We can tell you about Sasori now, but unfortunately we were unable to find any information on Deidara because, sadly, Zabuza has been found out and has had to hide. If you're wondering why Haku may just hate you on Monday, then that's why," he finally finished, topped off with a sickeningly sweet smile.

Sakura's jaw dropped, what with her being the least refined of us all and so unable to stop herself, and the rest of us just stared at him in a mixture of shock and relief.

"Well, there's no reason to discuss Zabuza now, I guess."

Iruka narrowed his eyes. "There is still a great need to discuss it, Hyuuga. If Zabuza has been discovered then we are all in significantly more danger than we were before. Zabuza can easily be connected to Kakashi, who can in turn be connected to all of us, most of all Sasuke and I, so be on your toes and make sure you tell any one of us if you hear _anything_."

"That doesn't include Haku, though," Kakashi put in, still grinning. "He just wants to kill you because Zabuza's gone and mentioned my name as he left. It's not hard to make connections from that little slip up."

I rolled my eyes. "I'd spend ninety-eight percent less time with you if I could, trust me. It would be so much more beneficial _not_ to know you."

His grin only widened. "Ah, but you enjoy my company at least a little bit, don't you? Otherwise you would've said a hundred percent."

"No, the last two percent is enjoying the time we all spend calculating the easiest way to kill you," Gaara shrugged.

All the students snorted into their hands as Kakashi and Iruka exchanged a look that clearly read, 'pah, teenagers. They don't _really_ mean it'.

"More to the point," Iruka said, clearing his throat, "we need to explain a few things about how this is going to work." He looked to Kakashi, indicating it was his cue.

The silver-haired teacher rubbed at his good eye and sighed heavily before leaning forwards, elbows resting on the table and a suddenly serious glint in his one visible eye. We all straightened in our seats automatically.

"You need to know that this will not be made public. It can't be. We, obviously, have connections, and these men will be dealt with quietly. They, and several others, have been wanted by our… _friends_, for quite a while but have been untraceable. We're a large town, a large school, public, loud, mostly rich – very hard to find people who don't make themselves known. Luckily Orochimaru made a few stupid mistakes, Sasori and Deidara made the biggest one, and for a long time now there have been various plans to finally…"

"Kill them?" Gaara asked hopefully.

"Well, no…"

"Torture them?"

"Not exactly…"

"But they're not useful for anything else," he pointed out bluntly.

I smirked.

"They're going to be used, aren't they?" Sakura said quietly. "They've done wrong somewhere and they need to pay for it."

Iruka almost winced. "Something like that, yes."

Gaara slumped a little in his seat. "Oh… well what if _I_ –"

"No, Sabaku. Shut it."

We all shot our 'friendly redhead' an amused look at being silenced by Iruka the Peacemaker, and he shot us death glares in turn, mostly to no effect.

"What took them so long?" Shikamaru asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "Things get complicated when you try to do them in secret. If it doesn't go entirely according to plan then you get stuck. We all know that."

We nodded in turn while Kakashi and Iruka shared a look.

Kakashi turned back to us, expression remaining serious. Must've been a record.

"Perhaps it would make more sense if you knew that Sasori is wanted for torturing humans and attempting to turn them into puppets."

… Dead silence.

For a very, very long time.

And still longer.

Well.

That was… well, that was _blunt_ for starters.

Kakashi pretended to be cleaning his nails idly while we all stared in jaw-dropped silence and Iruka gave him a hard disapproving stare.

Shikamaru was the first to break the silence, even though it was only a quiet clearing of the throat and a surprised, "Well… uh…"

That was probably the best any of us could come up with, really. He was doing well. Sakura tried next, but all that came out was a tiny squeak that pretty much summed up how we all felt. Luckily we were saved from actually having to reply with anything coherent by Iruka cutting in somewhat awkwardly.

"We, uh, we understand that that may have been a little _sudden_," he directed these words to his partner with a meaningful look, "but it's the truth."

Gaara snorted loudly. "I knew they were freaks."

Hn, says the psychotic one.

There was a noticeably meaningful silence as we all glanced at Gaara and down at the table, some of us with slight grins and some rolling our eyes.

"So… So what does that mean?" Sakura asked quietly. "Knowing what he did doesn't help our situation."

Kakashi shook his head. "No, you're wrong. Knowing exactly how dangerous he is can keep all of you safe. It puts into perspective exactly _why_ you shouldn't let anything leak, because he will quite likely cut you up."

More silence.

Oh…

"What if I cut him up first?"

"Sabaku!"

"Sorry."

Well, Iruka had certainly grown quite a backbone since this whole ordeal started. No wonder Kakashi was looking at him proudly.

"But enough about Sasori's hobbies, tell us what you heard about Zabuza," Kakashi turned to me expectantly.

I glared down at my hands for a moment, suddenly realising that this was all a waste of time. All the effort we put into getting them kicked out or discovered or killed or whatever the fuck was going to happen to them – wasted. Completely wasted. We were just going to be excluded from the end result. What did we do, really?

I got a little shitty that my boyfriend was being molested, realised there was more to it, and then they did all the work. They had the connections, they had everything they needed to weed the freaks out, so what the hell part did we play?

I cracked my fingers angrily, one by one.

"Sasuke?" Sakura put a gentle hand on my arm.

I glanced up at her and shook my head, figuring that I would at least have _some_ input into this whole fiasco before I was shut out entirely, and answered Kakashi in a monotone voice.

"Itachi said the three were having a fight in Orochimaru's office. Something about letting things leak and Sasori and Deidara being through with Orochimaru. He said they left the theatre group for good and were separating themselves from him. One of them said something like they were sick of being hunted down." I shrugged. "I guess that means you're right – people are after them. But they're running off again, now that they've gotten rid of Zabuza. That was all they said about him, but they mentioned that other thing, too."

I got six pairs of eyebrows raised at me at that last line, but a meaningful look at four of them got the realisation dawning while Shikamaru and Sakura still looked mildly confused. They didn't have to know _everything_. Gaara and Neji weren't even supposed to know. Again, kudos to Itachi.

Kakashi nodded slowly, slouching back in his chair and ruffling his hair tiredly. "So they're breaking up, huh… That's good news for us. Word spreads easily, so that should make them easier to find."

"It also leaves Orochimaru vulnerable," Iruka continued. "He no longer has anyone to support him or protect him, so he's left with his shield he created by blackmailing Tsunade. She's cracking though, we all know it, so really he has nothing…" He seemed to be talking to himself by the end of that.

"There's always the others, though," Kakashi said thoughtfully.

Iruka shook his head, ignoring all of our curious looks. "But we don't know enough, and it's not our place."

"And they don't really –"

"No, not really."

"Do you think -?"

"No..."

He trailed off and continued the conversation in silence before the silver-haired man stood up and said loudly, "Well! If there's anything you want to say to your beloved three 'teachers', then I suggest you say it soon. Go for your life. Surprise them. Punch them. Do what you like. No one's stopping you. But don't breathe a _word_ of this to them. I cannot stress this enough." He folded his arms and glared us all down one by one with his good eye.

"You will stay quiet, and you will keep yourselves safe. You _know_ how dangerous they are. Hell, even _we're_ dangerous if we want to be and don't give me that look, Nara, you know it's true. Now you two," he said, indicating Shikamaru and Sakura, "I don't know how much you've been told, but you came in a little late. Don't get involved and don't talk. As for you three," he looked Gaara, Neji and I over warningly, "If I hear so much as a whisper of this from _anyone_, I'll know it was you, and I will personally come looking for you. You all swore to keep silent on this right from the start, and I expect you to keep that promise."

Suddenly I stood up, shouting, "Then what the hell was the point in all this?!" I didn't really mean to raise my voice, but just the thought that we had to keep so quiet about this, that we weren't even allowed to know what happened to them – it really pissed me off.

"What the hell was the point in getting us involved, in endangering so many people just to push them away right at the end when all this shit actually _matters_?!"

"Sasuke…" Sakura said again quietly, this time her hand on my shoulder squeezing gently in an attempt to calm me down.

I pushed her away angrily.

"Do you have any idea how much fucking sleep I've lost over this? How much I've stressed about it and worked out all the possible ways I could help? How I could find out information to make _your_ job easier? And here you are, making us think that we're actually useful when you have all the connections and already know everything that's happening anyway! You're being all secretive and keeping things from us again, despite what we've done. You already knew about Naruto before I did! He's the most important thing in my life now and _you_ have more control over his protection than I do! This was about me and him at the start, and a little bit of revenge on that Orochimaru bastard, then other people had to get involved and all this other stuff started cropping up and you have _no right_ to shut us out like this! Gaara and Sakura have gone through hell with these guys too, and Shikamaru and Neji are here to support us, yet you expect us all to just sit back and let _you two_ do the rest of the work? What the fuck was the point in even starting all this with us, huh? What was the god damn point?!"

I was breathing heavily now, and even Kakashi was looking a little surprised. He sat down slowly, but I didn't follow suit. I glared down at him furiously while everyone just stared at me. I could tell they were all thinking the same thing though, from the way their brows were furrowed and their mouths pulled into a thin line.

All the students turned to stare accusingly at both teachers, each one of us demanding an answer and demanding it now.

"What do you expect us to do – arrest them in the end-of-term assembly? Announce it over the PA system and incite everyone over watch? Put up a goddamn neon sign out the front of the school directing passers-by towards the action?" Iruka's voice was quiet but forceful, full of accusations – a complete contrast to his usual demeanour. "Is _that_ what you were expecting, Sasuke? Because that's _not_ how things are done with these kinds of people."

Suddenly he slammed both palms flat down on the table and hauled himself to his feet, his eyes closed as if he couldn't bear to look at us.

"It _will_ be quiet, it _will_ be secret, and you _will all_ stay out of it for your own _safety_."

He opened his eyes then, but it was only to make sure he didn't make an arse of himself by missing the chair when he sat back down, all the fight suddenly gone out of him.

The silence that followed was almost painful, and I felt a little small at his sudden outburst. We all sat there, stunned into silence, shrinking away from him as he chewed his thumbnail absently, not looking at anyone.

Kakashi cast a nervous glance towards his partner. Despite the sudden silence we were plunged into, I was still glaring at my English teacher. I could take anything Iruka said, because he had a _right_, being the closest thing Naruto had to a father, but Kakashi had no say in the matter. All he had going for him was knowledge of the situation, and I pretty much didn't _care_ what he thought.

Iruka had a point, which I acknowledged in my head, and sure, it made me feel a little silly (even though that's obviously _not_ what I was suggesting in any way), but that didn't mean I wasn't still angry. Angry that we were being pushed aside, swept under the covers like we didn't exist. And Iruka had another point – that it was probably best for our safety, but I wanted to know when it happened and how it happened, and that's what they were trying to keep from us.

"Uch-Sasuke…" First names don't work with me, you fake. "I don't know if you really understand what you're saying or what you've really gotten yourself into here-"

"Don't understand? _Don't understand!_" I couldn't help myself. That was too ridiculous for me to let it slide. It was like Iruka had never spoken, the way my anger flared up again.

"Do you know what my family business is? Do you know what I'm expected to inherit from my father? Yes, my _father_. Both my parents want me to take over the family business of basically controlling the actions of the most dangerous assassins out there from a New Zealand base. I grew up in a slightly less-dramatic version of the fucking yakuza, all right, so don't you go telling me that I don't understand. I've understood since I was six and started making it my life's mission to own the goddamn company that drove my brother insane. If anyone doesn't understand here then it's you two. You don't understand just how much each of us _kids_ knows and how far we're willing to go to get those freaks out of our lives and prevent them from ruining anyone else's. Maybe not everyone knows the whole story behind it, but trust me, we understand just as well as you how dangerous this is, especially me."

Kakashi sighed loudly, rubbing at his eye patch. "Sasuke, we know, and we're not saying –"

"Then what _are_ you saying! Why the hell are we all here if we're just being pushed aside?"

Kakashi stared at each of us in turn long and hard, before coming back to me and not breaking his gaze. He answered me in a level voice that he used on especially rebellious kids at school, that voice that said 'don't mess with me or I may just have to cause you grievous bodily harm'.

"You _don't_ understand, because you're not seeing the bigger picture. There are more people with their hands in this than our little group here. You think your involvement has to be direct to have an effect, but you've had more of an influence to it all than you think. It was _you_ who set it in motion, _you_ who started it, _you_ who voiced your distrust and gained support, and all of you _together_ that helped provide background information and ideas. I don't know what these other four know, but assuming they don't know anything, I'll keep this simple. It was up to you to protect him and keep him safe. You're the one that started it to help him, and it wasn't your fault it spun out of control and it was more complicated than you ever could have imagined it to be. But it was all on you to support him because _you_ had the influence and _you_ had the motive. That's what this was originally about, wasn't it, Sasuke? All about _you_ _protecting_ _him_. Then it involved other people and you had to protect them as well. You, you, you. You _are_ involved, you just don't recognise it. So please, stop being childish and focus on your original aim."

He dipped his head ever so slightly, and I couldn't miss that not-so-subtle hint to get my arse back to Naruto and do it now.

I clenched my teeth and my fists, ordering myself to calm down.

Fine.

If he wanted me to go back to Naruto then I would go.

I spun on my heel and burst through the back doors, nearly taking Matsuri out on my way and ignoring Shikamaru's worried "Uchiha!" shouted after me.

He'd follow if he wanted.

I stormed out of the café with a fierce scowl, glaring at anyone who got in my way.

What was I doing? What would making up with Naruto actually achieve? Sure, a little part of me honestly missed him and so wanted to, but that was a _very_ little part. The rest of me was still annoyed at his stupidity and frustrated with him to no end.

But of course, you know, Master Kakashi is _always_ right, isn't he? Always knows best, always knows what's right - always knows every little fucking detail. And always has to act like he damn well _owns_ the place! What was he talking about with Iruka – all those unfinished sentences? How much did he know that he was holding back from us? What right did he _have_ to hold it back?

I knew now more than ever, with a heavy feeling settling in my stomach, that this was so far out of our hands and there was no way to gain control again. They'd taken it away from us, gone off on their own tangent and just expected us to sit back. And be ordered around, apparently. Arse.

I kicked a rock harshly as I rounded the corner into the park, taking a shortcut and passing through it to get to Kiba's.

But what was I supposed to do? Tell Naruto everything, or explain that I'm ever so sorry and to please take me back because he's the love of my life and puts the sparkle in my eyes?

I snorted to myself.

Not likely. Either of them.

I did sort of know what Kakashi was hoping to achieve though, and it was fairly obvious when I got over all the badly-hidden secrets and saw it from his side whether I wanted to or not. If the original purpose was actually to protect Naruto and get the creep away from him, then I would work better if I still had that goal. Kakashi was smart, Iruka was smart, and they knew I was smart too. They knew I'd know what was best and eventually do the right thing, but apparently three days wasn't fast enough for them so I had to do it _now_.

I still cared, of course I did, I was just… a little annoyed.

And they had no right to stick their noses in!

I was quite happily scaring the crap out of passers by and cursing Iruka and Kakashi to all a manner of awful places that would guarantee their deaths when I felt two firm hands grab each of my arms and yank me to a stop. I tried to turn around but they prevented me from moving, so I stood facing forward and forced out a "Which one is it and what the hell are you doing?" through gritted teeth.

The hands didn't release their grip as Shikamaru said, "It's both of us. Now promise you won't kill us and we'll walk to the park and talk. You need to calm down."

I cracked my neck, knowing they were right but hating to admit it.

"Fine. I won't kill you. If I see a small animal I might kill that though."

Sakura snorted. "Fine, if you really have to. But please try and restrain. Girls can't handle dead animals, you know."

I turned around with a smirk once they let me. "I hardly count you as a girl, Sakura."

"Well I hardly count you as a guy, so shut up," she retorted.

"And I don't count either of you as bearable, so go. Park. Now. No killing."

I rolled my eyes. "_Fine_." We walked a little way in a wary silence before I interrupted it with, "What about Kakashi or Iruka? Can I kill them?"

"No," they said in unison.

"Why not?"

"Because it's against the law."

"So are a lot of things. That obviously doesn't stop people."

"Well it should stop you," Sakura scolded. "Now sit down."

---

Aaah, friends. Sometimes it was hard to judge if they were a blessing or not. Sure, they looked out for you and all that crap, but what did they really do? They nagged and whinged and did all a number of things to make you do what they thought was best for you and insisted on blaming you when their ideas failed. They tried to understand your actions and put a reason behind them, then explained them to you afterwards to calm you down. They were good at forcing you to do things, though, always under the pretence of it being 'what's best for you'.

That's what it always comes down to.

I knew for one thing that I wouldn't be here without those two sorry excuses for friends.

"Go talk to him," they'd whined. "It'll be good for the both of you."

Bah. What would they know?

I was happy in my little world of refusing to speak with him, but apparently that didn't sit all that well with them.

So after being told that my outburst was clearly pent up frustration at not being able to help Naruto when, judging from Kakashi's little speech in the café and my embarrassingly heartfelt one that just happened to spill out in the park, that was all I actually set out to do, and that if I really meant anything I said I would go there and explain everything to him.

Once again, I hated to admit it, but they were right.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

That was happening a little too much lately for my liking.

So here I was, after accidentally pouring my heart out and revealing a little too much of myself as a result of frustration and confusion and general feeling of wanting to tear my hair out, standing outside Kiba's front door and hoping like hell that Naruto was the only one home.

No such luck, apparently, as Kiba opened the front door, his readily smiling face suddenly dropping into that of an angry scowl.

"I don't want to see you either, so can you get Naruto for me?" I asked, probably a little too harshly.

He scowled and crossed his arms. "And why would I do that?"

I inwardly rolled my eyes. "Because I need to see him." Duh.

"He doesn't need to see you."

I put my hand on the door frame and stuck my foot in the way to prevent him from closing it in my face. I stared hard at him, practically _praying_ for him to understand.

"Kiba, this is nothing to do with you. It's to do with me and Naruto and an enormous misunderstanding on both sides –" well, his "- so yes, he does need to see me. We need to talk."

"Let me rephrase that for you: he doesn't _want_ to see you."

"Kiba, seriously!"

He stared back at me, not quite as effectively, but a good effort. The door re-opened slowly but not all the way, and he stood there looking at me sceptically for quite some time. "You're an arsehole, you know." He said finally.

I nodded, unfazed. "So I've been told."

"Do you even care?"

I raised an eyebrow. "About what"

"About everyone thinking you're an arsehole."

I shrugged. "The only people that undoubtedly believe I am are the people I generally _want_ to think that. Take you for instance."

I took my hand off the doorframe and stood up straighter, folding my arms across my chest now that I was convinced the door wasn't going to be slammed in my face.

"I don't like you, so I'm about as rude to you as I can be bothered being. In turn, you think I'm a right prick and tend to stay out of my way unless Naruto is involved. It's a win-win situation. But at the moment, I really can't be bothered dealing with you, because I pretty much only care about clearing things up with Naruto.

Please get the blunt hint, Dog Breath, _please_.

"So you're being ridiculously rude to me in my own home in the hope that I'll get sick of you, get Naruto, and leave you alone."

"Thank you! "Precisely. So if you don't mind, I'd rather you replace yourself with Naruto so I can talk to him."

Kiba pretended to think for a moment, clearly mirroring my desire to punch the person opposite in the face, and tilted his head to the side. "Or…" he glared directly at me. "I could slam the door in your face."

"Kib-"

"Yep that sounds like a plan. Thanks for coming round and making me truly believe, without a doubt, that you really are the biggest prick I've ever had the misfortune to meet. I'll tell Naruto you stopped by, but I'll spare him the gory details. Because I'm nice like that."

And then – _slam_ – the door was dangerously close to breaking my nose, and I was just a little bit thankful that there were no limbs involved in stopping it this time, because I'm not entirely sure they would've survived.

… Did I just get shut down by the Dog Boy?

I clenched my fist and punched the solid wood door angrily, gritting my teeth.

Well, _shit_.

I unclenched my slightly throbbing hand, resting it against the door open-palmed, and leaned forward to rest my forehead next to it, breathing in deeply. I closed my eyes and counted to ten – _very_… _slowly_.

Once I'd at least marginally lost the will to either push Kiba off a cliff or jump off one myself out of sheer frustration, I lowered myself to the ground and sat on his doorstep, unable to really do anything else except stare blankly at the house opposite.

I'd told them in the park that if Naruto and I didn't sort it out then that was it, the final push in the direction of New Zealand.

"I don't have anything grounding me here if I don't have him," I'd said quietly. "You two mean a lot to me, but I know we'll stay friends because Sakura has enough determination for an army."

They'd laughed quietly, but hadn't interrupted, obviously realising how hard this all was for me to say.

"Here I've got you two, a handful of other good friends, a brother that has no idea which way is up, no idea where I want to go or where I _can_ go, and everyone thinks I'm either the crazy genius spawn of the devil, or God's gift from above. It's too unstable, and I don't quite know where I fit in amongst all the lies I have to tell to the people I'm closest to – including you two. But through all that, I have Naruto. And while it's only touching on three months, we've been around each other for years – jeez, now I sound like a possessive creep."

Sakura had grinned and assured me with a hand on my shoulder, "It's okay, love, we understand."

So I'd shrugged and continued. "But no one _else_ understands. Kakashi butts in when he really has no idea what's going on between us, and everyone else thinks they know what's best for us. I haven't spoken to him because yes, naturally, I'm still a little pissed off, but I'm damn well terrified that he won't want me back because I _know_ I was harsh on him, I _know_ I was an arse, and I _know_ I hurt him. And if he doesn't want me then I don't want to stay. If I move then I'll have a direction and something I've worked for. I stay, and that opportunity leaves, along with… along with him. Then everything I've done here, everything we've _all_ done to make _h__im_ happy and me convinced he's safe – it won't mean it's a waste, but it won't have any meaning any more. And that… that'd suck. That'd _really_ suck."

They'd smiled, nodded, said they knew and understood, then gave me the courage to face him.

To have it slammed in my face,

Great.

Well that was it. Kiba would've let me in no matter how unbearable I'd been if Naruto had told him to. He said plain and simple that he didn't want to see me.

I pulled my jacket a little tighter around myself.

He didn't want _me_.

I guess that made this my last week in Japan, then.

* * *

**(1) **Shuddup, Word. 'Smartarseyness' is so a word in my books.

Don't say I didn't warn you about these 'major happenings'

All I can say is this: a;kjdnva;ejrfthga;ujkfvvhtrsluhy –CRAZYFLAIL- and that is all. Oh, and believe it or not, getting fruit thrown actually hurts. Please use soft objects this time. –RUNRUNRUN-


	20. HalfDone Confessions

omnomnom... nothing much to say.... –twiddles thumbs-

OH! Thank seirai-chan for the ENTIRE Gaara/Neji/Sakura/Shikamaru invasion scene. Seriously. Her ideas entirely, I just wrote the damn thing. Though I'm seriously not fond of the lead-up to it. Sorry...

But... ENJOY! XD

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

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* * *

  
**

20. HALF-DONE CONFESSIONS

I'm not quite sure how long I sat there, unsure of what to do with myself, but eventually I made my way home in a dazed state, falling onto my bed and staring at the ceiling, completely blank.

God, I felt so pathetic.

The same thoughts ran through my mind one after the other relentlessly, and I couldn't shake them off. I couldn't stop thinking about – I didn't even know what. It was one of those times where you know you're thinking about _something_, but if someone were to ask you what about, you'd be stumped for an answer. I was sure it was a lot to do with leaving, and what would happen now. How I could tell my parents and Shisui, what would happen at school when I left, what Naruto would say. Would he care? Then, of course, that lead to how Naruto just didn't want me anymore, and if I'd maybe been a little less hot-headed then this wouldn't have happened. Maybe if I'd taken the time to understand that we were both in a difficult situation when Orochimaru cornered us and went hysterical, and Naruto did the only thing he could think of to get us out of it. But I was just being typical old me – an arsehole. I let all my frustration get the better of me and let it out at an inopportune moment.

Of course he wasn't stupid, no matter how much I told myself he was. He _had_ to know something was up if he _lived_ with them. There must've been at least one conversation he happened to overhear at some point. And while he definitely didn't have a rock solid understanding like some of us, he would've been able to string along enough of the vagueness to create something that would scare Orochimaru.

He got us out of a tight spot, and I flipped out at him.

_I_ was the stupid one now.

A knock at the front door brought me out of my sudden self-loathing, and I dreaded who it was already. I didn't bother hoping for it to be Naruto, but I hoped against hope it wasn't Sakura or Shikamaru, though maybe I could deal with the latter. Apart from those three I couldn't really think of who else it could be, or who else I _might_ be able to tolerate. I so wasn't up for people right now.

I got up from my bed reluctantly, calling out "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" and adding "Jesus Christ, break the freaking door down, why don't you?" under my breath.

I gripped the handle and wrenched the door open angrily, ending the insistent knocking, and was surprised to see my brother standing there, grinning like the fool he was and lunging forward to give me a hug.

Oh hell _no_. I was so _not_ in the mood for his shit right now.

"Are you feeding the fish?" was the sudden question. No greetings, just an accusing question.

"We don't have fish," I replied bluntly.

"Oh… then are you feeding Same?"

"He eats enough birds for ten cats."

"Good, good… Are you eating well?"

"Itachi, it's been _two days_. What could _possibly_ go wrong in that time?" Apart from falling in an emotional heap because you unofficially broke up with your boyfriend and are having difficulties coming to terms with where your life is now headed. Nothing major.

"Well, you _could_ burn the house down, get electrocuted, lock yourself in your room accidentally and starve to death, get scratched to death by Same, drown in the fish bowl, have a wild party and drown in your own vomit, get hit by a car, have the roof collapse on you, burn yourself cooking, die from inferior take away food, get eaten –"

I shut the door firmly in his face.

Ah, that was bet- no, he's talking through the door.

"- by a rogue hippopotamus that escaped the zoo, have unsafe sex and get a disease –"

I opened the door again, this time glaring angrily.

"Itachi, kindly never speak of that again in this lifetime. I may just kill you."

His hand flew to his mouth in shock. "You _didn't_?!"

"No," I growled out through clenched teeth. "We didn't. Now _please_ go away."

"But I haven't checked if you're all right yet!"

"I'm fine! Just piss off!"

I hadn't meant to sound that angry, but damn it all, I was furious. Just because he was technically insane didn't mean he could get away with saying whatever he liked. Didn't mean he could go ignoring how obviously upset I was at the moment and think everything was some vague form of a joke. Didn't mean he could come over when he was supposed to be away for the week and say _that_.

His eyes widened and if I hadn't known better, I would've said there were the beginnings of tears in them. "That… That was _mean_, Sasuke. After all I've done –"

"Save it, Itachi. You're not doing anything for me by staying here, so go back to Kisame, don't worry about me, and don't come home until Friday, you hear me? I don't _want_ to see you, and I don't _care_ if you're running around like a headless chicken in apparent worry for my safety – _don't_ come home."

And the door shut again, this time louder, and I flicked the lock just as I heard him say quietly through the wood, "Don't forget to wash behind your ears."

I rolled my eyes, feeling the tiniest hint of a smile tug at the corner of my lips, but I fought it down quickly.

He was so annoying.

In a confusing, temperamental, sort-of-adorable kind of way.

Try as I might, the vague, empty feeling wouldn't go away. Not long after Itachi wandered off, back to Kisame's to return to his rare week of holidays, I was doing laps of the house, running my hands through my hair restlessly and unable to sit still.

At some point I pulled out my mobile and sent a very simple message to both Sakura and Shikamaru.

**Well that was a waste of time. I guess I should start packing soon, hey? Thanks anyway.**

I never got a reply. For a whole hour I sat there, checking my phone every two minutes just in case I hadn't heard it, flicking the television on and off, sitting outside with Same for as long as I could stand being around the damn cat, and neither of them replied. I figured they were feeling guilty for making me go there. Well, they didn't really _make_ me, I suppose. It was all my own choice, but they encouraged it and told me they were _sure_ it would be fine and he would understand.

Right.

But if you call four friends beating down your door an hour later a reply, then I guess I did get one. Mind you, not one I particularly _wanted_ or even _liked_, for that matter, but at least it was something.

"I'm _coming_! Don't break down the door or anything."

I should have realised from Sakura's frantic, "Sasuke? Are you okay? Let us in!" that doing just that was going to be a downright shocker of an idea. But away I went, stomping over in my angry confused, frustrated huff, and opened up for them.

Sakura launched herself at me in a hug that had me worried for my internal organs, Gaara and Neji were bickering amongst themselves, and Shikamaru stood in the doorway, scratching his head lazily.

"We can't do that, it'll just make him hate him even more."

"I am _not_ enduring another second of his whining!"

"I think he'll be too crushed to whine now."

"_He's_ too crushed? Look at Sasuke – he looks half _dead_!"

I pulled Sakura off me forcibly, ignoring the incessant chattering in my ear, and glared up at Gaara.

"Thanks, but I _am_ here, you know."

He shrugged and said, "Only just –" as Sakura wailed and threw herself at me again, bawling "Not for long!"

I gritted my teeth, shooting down all the amused looks from the guys, and peeled her off me again. I held her out at arms length this time, giving her the worst glare I could muster (which wasn't overly difficult in my current state) and getting a little satisfaction as she squirmed.

"_Why_ are you all here?" I growled.

Shikamaru pointed at Sakura, Sakura pointed at Gaara, Gaara pointed at _me_, and Neji looked like he was trying not to laugh. I glared at them all in turn, overlooking the fact that it really did absolutely nothing to two of them.

"You know what? I don't care. I can _not_ be bothered dealing with your shit right now."

Sakura's eyes widened. "But, Sa-"

"_No_, Sakura! I don't want you to come in here, uninvited, thinking you can make even the tiniest _scrap_ of difference to the situation. Naruto didn't want to see me, that was the final straw, and I'm going. That's it. That's – fucking – _it_, got it? So all of you can just turn around and get your sorry arses out of my house."

I pointed out the door for emphasis, almost like you would treat a dog, but was only rewarded with blank stares from all four intruders and a vaguely annoyed _meow_ from Same as he shot out the door. Probably to kill something.

Lucky bastard.

Then they all spoke at once.

Shikamaru whinged that we were all so trouble some, as usual, though for once I felt inclined to agree. Gaara told me exactly where he thought I could shove that attitude of mine, Neji said something about strategies, and Sakura offered to make us all a late lunch.

What, did they not hear a word I'd just said?

I blinked stupid as they all waltzed inside, Shikamaru closing the door behind him and agreeing with Sakura that noodles sounded great, but they were here for a reason and it wasn't to eat. I stared after them, watching them get comfortable in the lounge room without a care in the world. Gaara even had the balls to whip out the Xbox and challenge Neji to a game.

I noticed how everyone voided the couch.

I shook my head in disbelief as they all began discussing me like I wasn't there, and clenched my fists at my sides.

"Do you think there could've been a bit of a misunderstanding?" Sakura asked as she sat in _my_ armchair.

My eyes narrowed.

"Maybe, but he _was_ pretty harsh," Neji said reasonably. "And Naruto _has_ been upset since."

"And we all know Uchiha's a bastard."

"Not helping, Gaara," Shikamaru sighed.

"But guys, really, they're Sasuke and Naruto," Sakura said earnestly.

Did they really have to do this? Seriously, was it _absolutely_ necessary?

Gaara paused the game to turn around and raise an eyebrow. "So?"

She sighed in frustration. "Sasuke _and_ Naruto. _Together_. The _both_ of them."

"Not anymore."

"Tact, Gaara, tact," Neji said quietly, resuming the game.

Shikamaru waved a hand around from his spot on the armrest of Sakura's – _my_ – armchair. "Wait, do any of us actually know what happened?

_Thank_ you! At last, someone with some sense!

"Well…" Sakura looked meek. "He didn't want to hear Sasuke out…?"

Time to intervene.

"How about _asking_ me what happened, huh? No, before you do that, as me if I'm okay, or even if I want to talk about it, _then_ try and analyse my life."

Sakura blinked. "Are you okay?"

I glared at her, forcing out through gritted teeth, "No, no I'm not okay."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Gaara asked.

"No!" I rounded on him. "Seriously, get –"

"So what happened?"

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and counting to ten. Maybe eleven. Fifteen?

"Sakura, your stupidity astounds me sometimes."

If I pretended to be insane like Itachi, would they let me off a murder trial lightly?

"I'm not stupid, Sasuke," she said, and I opened my eyes to see her smiling in that horribly patronizing way of hers. "I know you're upset and don't want to talk about it, but you're _always_ upset and _never_ talk about it. So get over whatever the hell issues you have and _tell us_."

I crossed my arms defiantly. "No."

She sniffed. "Fine, we'll just stay here and speculate until you tell us."

"No you won't."

"So what do you think, Neji?"

Neji thought for a moment, and I bored angry holes into the back of his head. "I think Naruto's too insecure. Sasuke acted out, got angry, and now he's not quite sure what's happening. He probably didn't know how –"

"_Fine_!" I threw my hands in the air with a scowl, seriously not caring that it took me all of five seconds to give in. "I'll bloody _tell_ you, then, if it's so important to you to stick your noses in where they don't belong."

Sakura tilted her head as if to say 'well, yes', and Gaara paused the game again, both he and Neji turning around to face me with identical smirks.

"This'll be good," the psycho said quietly, probably not intending for me to hear him.

I shot him a scathing look. "I went there, he told Kiba he didn't want to see me, therefore he doesn't care, and so I'm leaving. Happy now?"

There was a short silence while I fumed silently, trying to think of ways to boot them out of the house without actually killing any of them.

"So you know for certain he told Kiba that?" Shikamaru asked.

"What does Kiba have to do with it?" Gaara demanded, looking around at each of us.

Sakura waved her hand and made a vague 'pfft' noise to say it was irrelevant.

"Perhaps Kiba thought he was protecting Naruto," Neji said thoughtfully.

Sakura nodded. "Probably. I mean, those two are close, right? It's normal to want to stick up for each other."

Shikamaru 'hmm'ed quietly.

"Then Sasuke has to get his whinging arse over there and tell Kiba what's what," Gaara said, clapping a hand defiantly on his thigh.

"But what if Naruto really _didn't_ want to see him?"

Thanks for the support, Sakura.

"Then it's all over."

I went to tell Gaara exactly what I thought of his confidence-boosting comments thus far, but Shikamaru, of all people, cut me off.

"It could be a test."

"To figure out if Sasuke really means it?" Neji queried, hand in his chin in thought.

Shikamaru nodded as Sakura declared, "Then he has to go back!"

Could I not say anything? Was I not allowed to discuss my own love life? Did I not have a goddamn _opinion_?

Gaara nodded, finally acknowledging me but obviously not my steadily rising temper, which was very near breaking point. "Go back, confess your undying love for him, and go rejoice or whatever when you decide that you're actually staying here."

I clenched my jaw. "I don't –"

"Love him?" Sakura raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Okay, this is going too far."

Gaara grinned nastily. "Hit a sore spot, have we?"

Sakura gasped, feigning shock. You're _afraid_!"

That does it.

"No, Sakura, I am not afraid. I just don't appreciate my life being dictated to me by a bunch of losers like you lot who don't actually know _anything_ about how I feel."

"That's a bit –"

"Can it, Hyuuga. I don't care what you've got to say, all right? I don't care what _any_ of you have to say. You can't just waltz into my house like you own the place, thinking there's even the _slightest_ possibility I might appreciate any of you being here. You always do this, all of you! You stick your opinions in where they're not wanted and expect me to bow down at your feet in thanks. Well I'm _sick_ of it. There are some things I have to deal with on my own, and this is one of them, so if all of you could kindly get the _fuck_ out of my house, preferably out of my _life_, and not come back unless I take a leaf out of my brother's book and _kill_ you all, I would actually be grateful for once."

Stunned silence followed my second outburst for the evening, and I breathed heavily as I stalked over to the front door and opened it, indicating for them to leave.

Gaara, of course, had to say something.

"No wonder Naruto doesn't want you. You need anger management".

Shikamaru sighed as they walked out with an air of offence. "Low blow, man, low blow."

They could rot in hell for all I cared.

I heard murmured voices just outside the door a moment after I'd slammed it loudly behind them, Sakura's exclaimed, "Oh thank God!" and then another knock.

I turned my back on it, hearing the voices fade. Like I said: they could all rot in hell. I was _not_ letting them back into my house in this life _or_ the next. There was another knock, but I was more concerned about my stomach's hunger protests at the moment, and began to walk towards the kitchen as a louder, more insistent knock beat down on the door.

I growled under my breath and shouted, "If you're Gaara, Neji, Shikamaru or Sakura, get the hell away from my house!"

Flicking on the light on the way to the kitchen (because it was nearing 8 o'clock now, and I didn't have night vision), I cursed loudly as _another_ knock sound, this louder still, but followed by a voice that made my heart do funny things and my feet freeze in their tracks.

"Sasuke? I need to talk to you."

Oh _now_ he wants t talk? Now, when I'd already confirmed my decision with myself once and for all, and promised there was no going back, he 'needs to talk'. I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't go over there and listen to what he had to say, because he had his chance and he didn't use it. He didn't _want_ me.

But that tiny reluctant part of me that was still firmly rooted in little old Konoha and everything within it, pushed me to turn around, take a few shaky steps to the door, and open it slowly, telling myself what a stupid idea it was all the while.

No, he does _not_ look gorgeous with his hair all messed, light jacket falling off one shoulder and a very flushed, sheepish expression.

I narrowed my eyes when he didn't say anything. "Well, I can see this is going nowhere."

So much for that, then. I made to close the door, deeming it obvious enough that he was forced here against his will (most likely by Sakura), and didn't actually want to talk to me at all, but found my movements stopped by a determined hand.

"Sasuke, we need to talk. Can you at least let me in?"

My firm position blocking the doorway was answer enough to that.

He sighed heavily, and we stood in awkward silence. I waited expectantly, knowing he would be the one to crack first, and was proven right when he said quietly, "I spoke to Sakura."

"Mhmm." Duh.

"She said… Damnit, Sasuke, she told me you were leaving. For good. Final decision."

I nodded slowly.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

I shrugged. "You didn't want to see me."

"I was angry!"

"And it looks like you still are."

He shoved his hand on his hip, the other making a frustrated flicking motion as he said, "Well, _shyah_! For an entirely different reason now!"

I sighed, leaning heavily against the doorframe. "Naruto, what do you want?"

"You to stop being so – being so – crap! What do you think you're achieving by acting like this, huh?"

I resisted the overwhelming urge to hand him a mirror. "Look, just say whatever it is you came here to say, but know that my mind's made up. For real, this time."

Suddenly his whole front changed, and his shoulders slumped. Eyes downcast, he gave a quiet, depreciative laugh. "It's funny how I'm the one who got treated like crap, and now I'm feeling guilty beyond belief."

I tilted my head in confusion, standing a little straighter. "What -?"

"It's because of me, yeah? Because we had a fight and I ignored you when you came back. That's what pushed you."

I swallowed back the thick lump forming in my throat, and forced my hands to stay where they were, resisting the outright _need_ to touch him, comfort him.

I'd made my decision, and I would damn well stick by it.

"Naruto, I'm not changing my mind. Nothing you say will help."

He shuffled his feet for a moment before his head snapped up and his eyes met mine, the fierce determination in them almost overpowering. "Nothing?"

I clenched my jaw and nodded firmly, suddenly a little nervous.

His eyes got a little harder, he stepped a little closer, crossed his arms and stuck his chin out in a visible display of defiance. "How about 'I love you'?" He took another step closer while my jaw dropped. "Do you want me to say it again? Will it help change your mind the more I say it?"

"Wh-"

"Because I will. I love you, Sasuke – god only knows _why_ – but for some reason I do."

"But you –"

"Shut up and let me finish."

All I could do was nod stupidly, my brain too shocked to formulate any other kind of response.

"I was trying to come up with reasons for you to stay before, wasn't I?" Another dumb nod from me. "Well here's my last one: I love you. You can do whatever you like with that, but the fact still stands. As much as I _hate_ you at the moment for thinking you can do this to me – to _us_ – I still freaking love you and to some extent that annoys the hell out of me. You always have to win, don't you? Even when you don't mean to, you still win, and this time it's because I gave in and fell in love with you first. And no, I know you don't love me now, so don't say you do. If you did, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place, because I would've been in on whatever secret plans you've got going. You wouldn't have hidden anything from me, and if you did – if you did and that fight still happened, you would've damn well punched Kiba in the face to get on your knees and apologise to me. That's why I'm telling you this now. I'm telling you I love you because I don't want to lose you – again."

His voice dropped to a whisper, and by now he was right in front of me, close enough to drop his head on my shoulder, almost in exhaustion.

"You're practically everything to me, Sasuke. There are very few people in my life who accept me the way you do."

I said nothing, completely unable to speak, and slowly put my arms around his waist. Then –

"I wanted to."

I felt him tense at my whisper. "Wanted to what?"

"Punch him in the face."

He gave a breathy laugh into my shoulder. "Why didn't you?"

"I don't know…"

I didn't dare say I was scared. Didn't dare say I was still angry, and selfishly expecting Naruto to come running. And I most definitely didn't say that I'd already given up at that point – so easily.

Pathetically.

I fidgeted a little and winced, standing a little straighter as an indication that I wanted him to as well. I was feeling closed in, suffocated, and I needed space.

"Naruto, I – I –"

He got the hint and stood, stepping back awkwardly, but still staring hard at me. "It hurts that you won't tell me, you know. Really hurts. Even after I pour my guts out to you like that."

I sighed, guilt seeping through rapidly. "It'll be over soon," I promised in a whisper.

There was a short silence, broken when Naruto asked, "What will?"

Understanding the question beneath the question, I shook my head as I turned back inside.

"I don't know."

Suddenly not hungry, I slid down the door and sat on the ground, head in my hands. I hadn't expected that. I really hadn't expected that. Now all my thoughts and emotions were running haywire and I had no idea what to do. Every time I built up enough confidence and determination to say 'that's it. I'm gong', he came along and shattered them all again. He could just stand there and all my determination would be lost in the wind. Over and over it happened. He was determined to keep me here, and I knew I wanted him to succeed, but I _couldn't_ back down. Not again.

Not for the hundredth fucking time.

Slowly, I pulled out my mobile and called Shikamaru.

"What's up?"

I took a deep breath, making sure my voice was steady as I said quietly, "Sorry…"

He was quiet for a moment, and all I could hear was his breathing. "You okay?"

I shrugged. "I guess."

"Seriously?"

"…Yeah."

He let out a breathy laugh. "What brought that on, then?"

I thought for a moment before replying, "Something unexpected."

"Care to share?"

I shook my head despite knowing he couldn't see me. "No, just… I'm sorry for before."

He sighed. "We know."

---

"I don't quite get why you're here," I said as I stepped aside from the door to let my cousin through.

"I'm here partly because I was sent a second time, partly because I need to speak with a few people, and partly because I really, _really_ don't trust this drama teacher of yours."

I snorted. "You and the rest of the world."

I just watched as he sighed and continued straight on to the spare room at the end of the hall, and it was then that it actually clicked where he was headed and that he was carrying a large-ish bag over his shoulder.

I hurried after him in a mixture of surprise and anger.

"Hang on – whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you staying?"

Shisui turned around with a look on his face that clearly said 'well, duh'.

I scowled. "How long? Why? When were you going to tell _me_ this? _You can't stay_!"

"Why not?"

"Because –"

"Itachi's not here for the week, I know that for a fact."

My face fell. "Ah…" Well there went that line of attack.

"And don't be rude to your guests."

"Me? Rude?" I asked, not bothering to hide the flash of anger I felt at that accusation. I pointed down at his feet. "_You're_ the one who didn't take their shoes off!"

He shrugged, "Sorry. Forgot I was back in Japan," and turned his back on me to dump his bag in the spare room.

I spluttered a little in my mind, surprised at his complete rudeness so far, and gritted my teeth. I planted both hands on either side of the doorway, effectively blocking his way out of the room.

I'll take a moment to say how surprised I really was. Normally my cousin was so polite towards my brother and I, and no way would I imagine him barging into our house without so much as a 'thanks for your hospitality' or a 'sorry for being so sudden'. That's what was pissing me off. He thought he could just walk in without saying anything and we would just bend to his will and let him do whatever he liked. I didn't give a shit if we were pretty much working together on finding out what was going on with Orochimaru, he could get stuffed if he thought he could just stroll in and that would be that.

He turned around at the sound of my hands hitting the wood, and his eyes widened in surprise, though almost imperceptibly. I glared at him and he stood straighter, folding his arms, almost daring me to speak out against him. To hell if he's older than me – he was in _my_ house, damnit.

"Take your shoes off when you come inside, either cook dinner or help me cook, _stay away_ from the corner cupboard next to the fridge or there'll be hell to pay, and don't lord it around in my house. Don't expect to be treated like royalty just because you're a guest."

"I wasn't –"

"You're completely uninvited. I don't care if you gave me a sorry excuse for a warning Friday on the phone, I sure as hell don't want you here, and if something happens with Kisame and Itachi comes back for whatever reason, you leave, you hear me? I'm not having the both of you in the house again; it does nothing for anyone's stress levels."

He nodded slowly in understanding, unfolding his arms and slipping his hands into his pockets. I was pleased to note he didn't look so up himself now, and dropped my hands from their position on either side of the doorframe.

"I'm so not in the mood for this," I muttered under my breath, but I was sure he heard me. Louder, I said, "So pull your weight, don't be rude, and then maybe I won't be such an arse to you."

I was about to leave it at that, taking a deep breath to try and relax, when another thought suddenly hit me.

"And if you mention Naruto _once_, I will kick your sorry arse into next Friday."

---

I sat at the dining table (for once), glaring straight at the wall and employing the full use of every curse I knew in any language in my mind.

I could hear Shisui speaking in a low voice from the hall, but he was talking too quietly for me to hear exactly what was so urgent that he had to leave the dinner table three times.

I just wasn't in the mood. I wasn't in the mood for anything or dealing with anyone.

Ever since Naruto had sprung _that_ on me, I was fidgety and nervous and confused as hell. The last thing I needed was an uncharacteristically rude cousin forcing himself into my home and invading and sucking at cooking and avoiding subjects and oooh I probably shouldn't have stabbed the plate so hard.

I shifted the piece of steak a little to the side to make sure there was no damage done, and when I saw a slight chip in the plate, I glared hard at it as if willing it away along with everything else that was going wrong.

This weekend was so made of fail.

No two ways about it.

"Aw, what's that grumpy look for?"

My glare intensified.

And he wasn't helping the situation.

I looked up and dropped my fork with a loud _clack_, folding my arms and regarding him seriously. "What was that about?"

He shrugged, ignoring his own food as well. "Nothing."

"It's got to be something. You left the table three times when normally you would do the polite thing and ignore it."

His face was carefully blank, impossible for me to read. "It's nothing that concerns you."

I clenched my jaw. "Oh really?"

He lifted an eyebrow. "Really."

"Does it concern Orochimaru?"

He said nothing, so I continued, keeping my voice falsely light.

"Because if it does, then it directly concerns Naruto, Sasori and Deidara, which in turn concerns a whole host of other people including myself. So I think it only fair that you share that important conversation with me, because naturally, I'm very interested."

He was nodding along with everything I said, and 'hmm'ed in apparent agreement as I tiled my head innocently, inviting him to explain. "Yes, yes, I can see where you're coming from. However, dearest cousin, I wouldn't want to shatter your innocent image."

I shook my head. "Oh, no, you needn't worry about that. I'm far more knowledgeable than you would think."

"Well if you're so knowledgeable then I hardly need to tell you."

I glared. He glared back.

I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the table, pushing my plate away. He did the same.

"Okay, seriously. What was it about?"

"You know what it was about."

"Specifics."

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you?"

"Because you _know_ you should."

"Should I?"

"_Yes_, damnit!" I slammed my palm flat down on the table in frustration, sick of dancing around it. "I can't just sit here, after everything you _know_ I've done, and not know what's going on."

He sighed, visibly tired and worn out. I didn't care. He asked to join this when he really didn't have to. He could have left me to deal with it, because he knew I was capable.

"And so what if I _do_ let you in on every little secret? You can't do anything more than you already have, so it would only put you in danger – _more_ danger. The only thing that could bring me to tell you is if it would make you stay, and get you out of this _stupid_ mindset that you're throwing everything away."

"That has nothing to do with this," I said stiffly, eyes narrowing.

"It has _everything_ to do with it. If you knew every little detail, were involved in every step of the plan, then you would have more of an inclination to stay, wouldn't you? You'd feel like you still had a _reason_ to remain here, so you would." His voice had risen slightly, clearly showing his anger. "So if I tell you, will you stay?"

I clenched my jaw tighter, grinding my teeth.

Why now? Why did this have to happen _now_? Because the most annoying this was that he had it down. He knew exactly what was going through my head. He knew there was still a part of me, somewhere buried really far down now, that was stuck here, and he was playing with that, taunting it and trying to bring it out in a typical underhanded Uchiha way.

But I couldn't read him, despite the fact that we were family, despite the fact that I had known him for years and therefore _should_ be able to – I just couldn't. His face was so blank that it was impossible.

And that made me think. It made me think that he really _was_ better for the position, that he had every _right_ to be there, to try and make me stay. But _I_ would be trained, _I_ would learn, and _I_ would run Sharingan, just like my brother was supposed to before it got passed on. It was _my_ right, _my_ direct family line.

So I stared him down, determined to prove to myself that I was supposed to go, and looked through that stupid Uchiha mask that shut so many people out so easily.

He was obviously angry at me, waiting for an answer that he _knew_ would be negative, but he was frustrated, somewhat confused, and hopeful, as well as downright exhausted. I could see it.

Getting to my feet and feeling somewhat triumphant, I said defiantly, "Even if I knew every single minute detail, I still wouldn't stay and you know it, so don't even bother trying to hook me in with that."

The hope in his eyes died a little, only to be replaced by determination. "You wouldn't see it through? You wouldn't stay to see the results of your work? You wouldn't stay for _Naruto_?"

My breath hitched and I turned my back, sweeping up my plate. "I told you not to bring him up."

Shisui's voice carried over to me as I stalked into the kitchen. "You weren't so steadfast last time I was here, and he was the reason, wasn't he? He was the reason you brought this issue to our attention, so why the sudden change in attitude?"

"We had a fight," I growled after a moment's hesitation, virtually throwing my plate into the sink. "That's all you need to know."

"You can't be reacting this badly to _just_ a fight."

His voice was a lot closer, and I turned around to see him leaning casually against the doorframe.

"You don't need to know."

"Neither do you."

Snap.

I threw my hands in the air. "It won't work, all right? Whether I know or not, I'm going. If you exclude me, as you seem so intent on doing, I'm going. If you include me, I'm _still_ going. You can't do anything about it. Neither can Naruto, Itachi, or _any_ of my friends. So don't bother with any more of your pathetic attempts at convincing me to stay for my 'protection' or whatever, because they _won't work_."

He glared, entirely unaffected by my mini-rant, and just regarded me in mild frustration as I clenched and unclenched my fists.

"You won't listen, will you?"

"No."

"Do you have _any_ idea what it's like?"

"I grew up around it."

"No, what it's _really_ like."

"I'll learn."

"But you –"

"Father doesn't seem to have a problem with it."

"Your father doesn't _know_ you."

"Neither do you."

"I know you better than he does."

"If you did then you'd know that my mind's made up."

"But I _do_ know, that's why I'm trying to convince you _otherwise_."

I shrugged. "Like I said; my mind's made up."

He said nothing, staring at me in a disapproving silence.

Whatever. If he didn't like it he could leave.

As I pushed past him, he muttered under his breath either to himself or to me, "I don't know _why_ they think you don't want to go… There's absolutely _no_ getting through."

* * *

**AN:** Now is it just me, or does this story have a plot? O_O"


	21. Charming

Either my memory is totally shot, or I didn't update last week. If I didn't, I'm sorry! If I did, then never mind, I'm just nuts.

Um... I can't actually remember what happens in this chapter, but I do hope you enjoy. I remember it being vaguely fun to write (and can you tell how much I missed Itachi? XD)...

**Previous disclaimers apply**_**.**_

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* * *

  
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21. CHARMING

I woke up in a very bad mood, and the fact that Shisui was the reason I woke up just made everything suck that much more.

He made me seriously wonder if insanity ran in the family, because in he came at seven thirty, big smile plastered on his face, and yanked the damn pillow out from underneath my head.

If that wasn't enough, the bastard decided that while I was having a shower (after I hurled a whole range of expletives at him for even _thinking_ about waking me up), he would do the dishes I'd left on the sink from last night because I just didn't feel like doing them when he'd been an arse to me like that – which, by the way, he didn't utter a_ breath_ of apology for.

I walked out of the bathroom after my horribly cold, hot, cold, hot, cold shower, put two pieces of bread in the toaster, and clenched my teeth as I began to find it increasingly difficult not to forcibly remove that annoying, eager smile from his face.

It got even harder as he began humming to himself while he made himself a cup of coffee, and positively painful when he asked me what we were going to do today in a cheery voice that shouldn't have been _legal_ before noon.

I looked up from my toast, grunting through a mouthful as I sat down, "_I_ have school." I swallowed, glaring. "I couldn't care less what you do."

He shrugged, sipping his coffee. "So I can come with you then?"

Lucky I'd just swallowed, because there was nothing I could do to stop my jaw falling open in shock. "You what?"

He swirled his mug around, both hands hugging it, and said, "I'll come with you."

"Like hell you will!"

He finally ditched the sickening smile and glared right back at me. At least this was a _little_ closer to my comfort zone.

"Sasuke –"

"Don't you 'Sasuke' me," I interrupted. "You're supposed to be out there meeting people who can dish the dirt on Orochimaru, and fixing this – this _thing_, not coming to school with your younger cousin! What the hell is _that_ going to achieve?"

I threw my toast down angrily, no longer hungry, and got to my feet. His voice followed me as I stalked back to my room to grab my bag and the overdue science assignment that I'd finished at some ungodly hour last night.

"Where do you think all the people involved _are_? Where do you think Orochimaru is? Where, in all of town, is the most information going to be?"

I stopped at my bedroom door in frustrated silence.

Damnit.

Scowling, I slung my bag over my head and across my shoulder, slouching back into the kitchen.

"You're not coming to _class_ with me, are you?"

Okay, so he was totally right about coming to school, even I could see that through my severe hatred for him at the moment, but that didn't mean I couldn't lay down some rules.

"Well –"

"Because if you are, please don't talk to me. Pretend you only speak English or something, whatever, but I'm not acknowledging you if I don't have to. There's a couple of my friends who know you, but that doesn't mean you can talk to them. And for the sake of your own safety, _don't_ talk to Naruto. Or about him. Don't even mention him. In fact, don't even _think_ about him, got it? Not around me."

He paused with the coffee mug halfway to his lips, raising an eyebrow. "Wha-?"

"Just don't."

"But –"

"Don't."

"Sasu-"

"_Don't_."

He held up his free hand in a surrendering gesture. "Okay, okay, I won't. Keep your hair on."

And I didn't need reminding that my hair was _crap_, thank you very much. Scowling further, I scooped up an apple on the way through to the front door (I'm a growing boy, okay? Food's important), and turned back to face him as I slipped on my shoes.

"Wait – what about drama?"

Shisui gave me a disinterested look. "What about it?"

I mentally squirmed, not quite knowing how to say it. "Well, are you going to be _there_, with _my_ class_?"_

He nodded slowly. "Yes… I'm replacing Kabuto for the rest of the week." He smirked suddenly at my questioning look. "He fell ill."

…Oh.

I wrinkled my nose.

"Charming."

--

So apparently everyone knew my cousin was coming to school, because as soon as we stepped within the grounds (I'd tried to lose him several times along the way), he began racking off in that annoying _morning_ voice of his, all the meetings he had today and tomorrow and where he had to be at what time, and could I please show him the way there, because the place had changed so much since he'd attended the same school that he couldn't quite get his head around it.

I'd grudgingly agreed, then seriously regretted my decision.

Because he was annoying, and I was frustrated. Because Haku was staring at me, and not in an I-want-to-ravish-you kind of way, which I was used to receiving from girls.

I shook my head.

No. Boy. That's right. Boy.

In any case, it was more of an I-would-_really_-like-to-pulverise-you stare. Which, okay, I was also kind of used to.

"Is she giving you trouble?"

I rolled my eyes. "No."

"She's not stalking you, is she?"

"No, Shisui."

"Then why is she – _oh_. You've caught her under the Uchiha spell, haven't you?" he smirked.

I sighed in frustration, turning to him with steely eyes. "One; that is a guy. Two; no, I have not 'caught him under the Uchiha spell', unless it's that handy old one where every guy seems to be out for your blood. Three; no he's not giving me trouble, though you could say it's the other way around, and four; please, shut up."

Shisui just shrugged me off, retuning his watchful eye over to Haku, who was waiting outside a neighbouring art room and _really_ not looking all too happy with me. Not that I cared, but I was a little thankful that Kakashi had given me a heads up. I gritted my teeth and ignored him, though, looking off to my right, where Naruto was doing an excellent job of ignoring me.

Nothing seemed outwardly off as he laughed with Kiba and Sai, but he hadn't so much as _looked_ at me since we'd arrived this morning. I'd passed him in the hall, accidentally bumped into him at the lockers, and he'd overtaken us on the way down to the drama room, but he hadn't acknowledged me once.

He knew Shisui, he knew what our family did, he _knew_ there was something happening because he asked me when I would tell him, so I was expecting at _least_ a suspicious glance every now and then, maybe even a thoughtful tilt of the head as he strained his tiny brain to figure out what was going on.

And who confesses their apparent love for someone and then completely ignores them afterwards? It wasn't like he was expecting an answer that hadn't been given, because he _said_ I didn't love him. He didn't _want_ an answer. Honestly, I was still a little put out that he hadn't given me a chance. Granted, I had no idea what I would have said because I didn't know how I felt even now, but he couldn't let me say _something_ for myself.

And now I couldn't figure him out.

Why would he be ignoring me? It wasn't even the usual, blatantly obvious ignoring that one usually did when pissed off, but more like he didn't actually know I existed. He hadn't looked my way at all, not once, not even a fleeting, half-second glance, and now I had drama class with him, in which I had to pretend to be in love with him.

Or not pretend. Or _think_ I was pretending, or even make _him_ think I was pretending.

I sighed quietly in frustration.

Regardless of what I was going to have to do for the next hour and a half, it wasn't going to be a bundle of fun, that was for sure.

"Are you sure he doesn't hate you?"

Especially if _he_ was there.

Usually I didn't mind him and we got along quite well, but only when he was in Sharingan Mode, when he was calm, calculating and sensible. And sane. God only knows I lacked a decent amount of that in my life.

But today it was taking him a while to get past full-blown Cousin Mode. 'Excruciating' didn't quite cover it. Or maybe he was always like this in the mornings, and I just hadn't spent enough mornings with him to know yet. If that was the case, I never wanted to spend another morning with him ever again.

"Yes he hates me, and in all honestly he probably wants to thrash me, but I don't care and neither should you."

Shisui lifted an eyebrow, whistling in appreciation. "Wow, you must've really done something."

I smacked myself in the forehead, growling in complete frustration. "It's _his_ guardian or whatever that got caught out, and he's not happy with me because I was the one who started it all and now Zaza-what's-his-face has had to bail. Get it now? Good. So shut up and act like you're supposed to."

He said nothing, and I thought that maybe I'd gotten through to that coffee-killed brain. Maybe he'd realised that he was here for a _reason_.

"So… want me to deal with him?"

But no. Apparently not.

"_No_, I don't want you to 'deal with him'."

"You sure?"

"_Yes_."

A short silence.

"So what's this Orochimaru guy like?"

I pushed my palms into my eyes. Hard.

"Is he really as horrible as they say? Tayuya said he was a freak and a half who had no concept of personal space or breath freshener and no manners to speak of – with some foul language thrown in, of course."

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

"But I don't want to wait. You know what it's like being an Uchiha, Sasuke. You want something and you get it –"

"Have you _seriously_ been researching him for four days and _not_ found out what he looks like?"

I'd totally lose any scrap of faith I had in Sharingan if he didn't even know what Orochimaru _looked_ like.

"Oh I know, I just don't know what he's like in person. Personal accounts can only tell you so much, you know."

I frowned. "He defines the word 'disgusting' almost as well as you're defining the phrase 'irritating beyond comprehension'."

I still had my hands over my eyes, but I really didn't have to look to see the amused smirk.

"Are you always this shitty when you get woken up?"

"_Always_."

I lifted my hands at the new voice, and blinked in the sudden light to see a face I really didn't want to be dealing with at the moment. "Kiba," I growled, shooting a warning glance at Shisui to say that this wasn't someone involved, and certainly wasn't a friend.

Dog Boy scratched the back of his head, clearly unsure of what to say. I didn't actually care, really. I'd rather jump into a shark-infested pool than listen to him try and start a conversation with me, especially since the last one we had hadn't ended particularly well.

"Look, I just –"

"I don't really care, you know."

"I'm trying to –"

"I don't care."

He clenched his jaw, snarling like the dog he was. "I don't want to do this either, but Naruto was pretty shitty at me on Saturday so I'm doing this for his sake and his sake _only_. I couldn't care less if you dropped off a cliff tomorrow and died, but if Naruto would get more upset by it than he is now, I'd probably have to step in and save you."

I sneered. "I thought you were with Shino now."

He blinked in shock, and I have to admit that I was a little disgusted at myself for stooping so low, but I couldn't take it back now.

"Is _that_ what this is about? Is _that_ why you hate me so much? Because of some stupid little thing that happened _months_ ago that everyone has forgotten about already, _including_ me?"

… So I felt a little stupid right about now.

"You know what? Nartuo was a fucking mess yesterday because _you're_ pissing off, and I came here to tell you if you had a heart you would take his feelings into account, because he fucking _loves_ you, man. _Loves_ you. And you're still the biggest arsehole this side of the equator." He shook his head at me and I glared. "Get over yourself, Uchiha."

Then Orochimaru came and prevented me from giving the Inuzuka a piece of my mind (because, you know… I had something to say, and all…), but I gave him my worst, most defiant glare as he backed away, back to Naruto, who gave him a curious look and asked him something. Dog Boy just shook his head and followed the rest of the class as they filed inside.

Naruto still didn't look at me.

I gave Sakura a don't-want-to-talk-about-it look when she raised an eyebrow in my direction, and waited till the rest of the class had gone in before joining behind them.

I was internally fuming over what the hell gave Kiba the right to tell me to acknowledge Naruto's feelings. I'd had too much on my mind lately, getting myself into all sorts of trouble for him, and Kiba thought he had the _right_ to think he understood the situation at all and tell me what to do.

"Oh, so _that's_ why I wasn't –"

"And you're still not. Inuzuka just likes to ignore other people's feelings and say whatever the hell he wants so don't mention it ever again and start doing your damn job for once."

He scowled. "Well sor-_ry_."

But there was a visible change as he easily shifted roles again, back to the normal Shisui that we all knew, and his eyes grew hard as we were all ushered into the room, Orochimaru seemingly angrier than last time. Believe it or not.

I stood with Sakura at the back, only Lee and Kiba standing between Naruto and I, yet _still_ he gave no sign of even knowing I was there. Orochimaru would notice. He was bound to. Naruto hadn't been home for several days, Tsunade was still gone as far as I knew, Kabuto was 'ill' (i.e.; dead, permanently missing, lacking in vital limbs and/or organs, held hostage in a whole range of possible places, etc.), there was a new support teacher who looked suspiciously like me, and Naruto and I weren't speaking since last lesson's incident.

Something was _definitely_ wrong.

Orochimaru scanned his nervously fidgeting class suspiciously, eyes landing on Shisui standing off to the side. My cousin stared back, perfectly innocent as Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

"You're too tall to be a student."

Shisui ducked his head. "Yes, sir."

"I take it you're the replacement?"

"Yes, sir."

Orochimaru sighed. "Get up here then. What's your name?"

I held my breath as Shisui shuffled over to the front of the class, looking around meekly. "Shinji, sir."

I let it out in a rush of relief, thankful that he wasn't _that_ stupid.

"And where are you from?"

"Isshiki High."

Orochimaru frowned. "You look an awful lot like Uchiha over there." He jerked his head in my direction.

Shisui glanced my way, looking perfectly confused. "Who, sorry?"

The pervert practically growled, expression suddenly changing to one of pure hatred as he began advancing on Shisui. "You know who."

"N-No, sir! I really don't know who you're talking about!" He dropped his head in a shallow bow, eyes fixed firmly on the floor, the barest hint of a fearful shake in his body.

Orochimaru looked down at him in disgust. "Stop grovelling. God, you're worse than Kabuto, and he was a pathetic whelp."

Oh really, now? From what I'd seen and Naruto had told me, he and his little lap dog were quite the team.

"I'm sorry, sir."

"And don't apologise. Sucking up won't get you anywhere."

"Sor- yes, sir."

Orochimaru 'tsk'ed, giving Shisui a look of pure distaste, and turned his disapproving gaze on us. His eyes moved from Ino to Neji, on the other side of Sai who was next to Naruto, spanning the whole length of our row distrustfully.

"Two more rehearsals, people. _Two_. My production will be nothing short of perfect, you hear me? _Perfection_. You will not forget a line, miss a stage direction, have a wardrobe malfunction, arrive unprepared or _anything_. Do you understand?"

"Hai, sensei!"

But it sounded empty without our row joining in. Ino just followed us, as she did, but even Lee and Sai said nothing defiantly, and they just didn't like him.

He glared at us all, not missing a thing. "If any of you have any petty little teenage issues with each other about who kissed who's boyfriend or whatever –" there was a stare aimed directly at me, "- then I strongly suggest you _get over it_." He looked around the room again after a meaningful pause. "Everyone clear? Good. Now get out of my classroom, act your arses off, and ask this sorry wreck here if you have any issues. I've got more important things to deal with than your endless whining."

And everyone scattered, knowledgeable enough of Orochimaru's moods by now to know when it was okay to play funny buggers and stay just to piss him off, and when it was the time to scram. Now was the time to scram, just like last time. Sakura squeezed my hand lightly before turning tail, and I was grateful for the show of support, no matter how small.

I'd been horrible to her and the others, but she still came back and forgave me without hesitation. Because she was Sakura, and if she decided she hated you then so help your sorry existence because that was _it_ for you, but if she liked you then she was a keeper, and damn hard to get rid of.

In a good way, of course.

Even if she did have pink hair.

I didn't dare look at Shisui on his way out, knowing Orochimaru was watching me like a hawk, but I silently thanked him for acting his part so well. It made life a hell of a lot easier for me, that was for sure.

Suddenly Naruto thrust his hand in the air. "I don't feel well."

"_You're fine_," Orochimaru hissed.

The hand went down. "Okay."

I rolled my eyes.

This was gonna be a _long_ hour and a half.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes in and Orochimaru was yelling at us. Half an hour in and he was positively _livid_.

"No, no, _no_!" he shouted, absolutely fuming. "What are you _doing_?"

Naruto didn't look at me as he folded his arms and shrugged. "Acting."

"You call that _acting_? I wouldn't give money to a _beggar_ to see that shit! Now get it together or get the hell out of my classroom and don't come back!" You're both cardboard – you have no _expression_! Put some weight behind it, you hear me? Go!"

We both gritted our teeth, faced each other, and didn't move.

We stared for the longest time, but there was no way I could read Naruto's expression. It was perfectly blank, letting nothing through for once. 'Cardboard'. And that's how I knew he was dead serious. Naruto was _always_ easy to read, at least on the surface, and it was when you could see absolutely nothing in those eyes that you could gather something was _really_ eating him up.

I wasn't exactly ready for the wave of guilt, and I had an urge to just _go_ to him before I got control of it. I ignored it, no matter how overwhelming it was, justifying it by telling myself sternly that I'd done nothing wrong. I had no reason to be guilty, because nothing I'd done was _wrong_.

The fact that he hadn't done anything either was completely beside the point.

"Did I say stand there at stare at each other? No, no I did not, so _what _are you _doing_?"

Naruto blinked, breaking eye contact, but not before I saw that mask slip for half a second. I may have seen his eyes start to water, but it was too quick to be sure.

"I'm not doing it."

I didn't even blink, not overly surprised. I was relieved, actually. Today had been a total failure, and we hadn't even gone through the first page of the script yet. We just couldn't do it, neither of us.

It felt awkward and forced, and completely unfamiliar despite how many times we'd been over and over it both in school and out. Everything was stilted and nervous, not sure where we stood with each other anymore and not sure what we could and couldn't do. Despite the fact that we both knew it wasn't _us_ anymore, it was Nao and Kazu, everything we did was hesitant.

Naruto had to touch my hand at one point, and when I realised how much he _really_ didn't want to do it, I left my hand on my lap, out of sight, just so he wouldn't have to. I didn't bother scoffing and saying "It's just a hand, get over it." I understood. It was awkward.

But I still couldn't figure it out. For the life of me, I couldn't work out why he was so _afraid_ of me.

I hadn't bloody _done_ anything!

"Excuse me?" Orochimaru stepped forwards at a slow, menacing pace.

Naruto faltered.

"We're not doing it," I said for him, standing up. "Not today."

Orochimaru laughed horribly. "Oh really now? And what makes you think that, hm?"

"Because we _can't_," I said icily. "Some days you can make it work, others you can't. Today we can't, so we're not doing it."

Oh, he didn't like that.

"You don't have the _right_ to turn your backs on me because of some petty little problem that no one cares about! If I say you can act, then you can damn well act until _I_ say stop!"

He was screeching at us, and I unconsciously took a step back, trying to get away from the spit that was flying in his sudden rage.

"_I_ direct what happens here, got it? You're here for _me_! You can't just decide when you want to play and when you don't. You agreed to it so you're in it for the long haul, you ungrateful shits! You should be thankful that I've even given you a chance! You can't turn your backs now. You can't leave me with nothing to show. You're both pathetic! Get over whatever the problem is before I _make_ you get over it, and don't set foot in this room again until you do, you hear me? Not a _toe_ in this room until you can both accept that I'm running the show, here! _I'm_ the one you answer to and what I say goes. You can't just decide when you're in and when you're not. Now _I_ say get out, so _get out_!"

We didn't need to be told twice.

Automatically, I grabbed Naruto's hand and yanked him out with me. I couldn't care less if he didn't want anything to do with me, there was no way in hell I was letting him stay in a room with _that_.

Orochimaru was bright red, eyes wide and angry, barely keeping himself under control, absolutely _fuming_… and I had a vague feeling he wasn't talking about our play anymore. Or even about _us_ for the most part.

Maybe Itachi was right, and there really was a change in the ranks. Or so Orochimaru thought. Or something.

But I didn't get much of a chance to think on it too hard, because the second we were clear, Naruto pulled his hand away and kept walking, speeding up his steps presumably to get away faster.

I wasn't letting him go that easily.

I hurried after him determinedly, grabbing at his hand again and pulling him around to face me. "What the hell is up with you?!"

Okay, so I could have worded that a little better, but whatever.

He wrenched his hand out of mine without looking at me, and said nothing as he spun around. I watched him angrily as he stalked off like I didn't exist, and growled in frustration.

"Naruto!" I shouted, watching as he finally turned around.

But he looked tired, overly so, and frustrated. He shook his head and lifted a hand in dismissal as I went to take a step towards him, saying just loud enough for me to hear, "Forget it, Sasuke."

I frowned, a little surprised, as he turned back around and walked to where Sai and Ino could be seen with their group.

What was _that_ meant to mean?

---

"You spoken to Naruto yet?"

I glanced at Neji, suspicious of his offhandedly curious tone, and shook my head slowly. "Why?"

He shrugged as Gaara answered for him, not looking up from his designs.

"Because you've both been in a shit mood since Saturday and it's annoying. Your outburst is testament enough to that."

I sighed. "Look, I've _said_ I'm sor- wait, _you_'ve spoken to Naruto?"

They stilled, and I barely noticed Shikamaru stiffen next to me.

"…Maybe," Gaara said, shrugging.

I narrowed my eyes. "You know something."

"I know nothing."

Shikamaru snorted. "We know."

"Know what?"

"That you know nothing."

"But he _does_ know," I insisted.

"What do I know?"

"You know something about Naruto, and _I_ know you're playing dumb."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"Not."

"I _know_ you know!"

"But I _don't_ know!"

"Oh _shut up_!" Ino said loudly, glaring at us all from across the table before turning back to her conversation with Tenten and Hinata grumpily.

"What did he tell you?" I hissed.

Gaara held up his hands and shook his head, refusing to speak.

"Give it up, man," Shikamaru supplied lazily, slowly sitting up straighter as Sasori came into view. "You won't get anything out of us that you don't already know." He stretched and yawned loudly. "It's something for you and Naruto to sort out, as you've told us countless times."

He had a point, but he _always_ had a point, and it was always something that you couldn't respond to very well because you knew he'd just shut you down again anyway.

All I managed was a mumbled, "But he still _knows_."

"I _don't_ know!"

Neji rolled his eyes, sitting straight as well. "What are you, five?"

We both glared as there was a sharp knock on the glass of the classroom door, and glanced behind us. Sasori was standing there, large box of scrap materials in hand and a scowl set firmly in place. He seemed to be waiting for someone to open the door for him.

Hah.

I smirked, continuing the final copy of my assignment, copying out my sketched design from earlier in the term and wondering how long it would take. I figured he'd be waiting a while, considering none of us liked him enough to help, but within seconds Neji was there, holding the door open for him.

"Sorry, didn't see you there, Sensei. Would you like help with anything?"

Sasori simply raised his eyebrows at him and pushed past, heading off into the back room. Neji closed the door behind him, face entirely expressionless.

I shared an understanding glance with Shikamaru as Gaara smirked.

Ooh, we see what you're doing.

Well, why not? Might as well, if we'd been given permission. One of us might even sneak in a punch on the last lesson. That would be fun.

"No, thank you…" Sasori said cautiously as the whole class looked on, a little stunned.

Tenten slowly sidled up behind me and whispered, "You're smart. What's he doing?" in my ear.

I allowed a sneaky smile but shook my head. "Just watch."

Neji sighed and Gaara stood up to join him, the both of them taking the box from Sasori. "That's too heavy for you, sensei. Let me take it."

Did Sasori just bring the box _closer_?

Huh. Odd.

The wannabe teacher narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "It's not heavy. Not like _you_ could help anyway," he added, looking Neji up and down.

Neji just laughed horribly and waved his hand. "No, no, it's fine." He all but ripped the box from Sasori's hands, a brave move if I say so myself. "Now where would you like me to put it?"

Sasori cracked his knuckles. "Hyuuga, I don't know what you're trying to do but I suggest you stop it. Now."

I stifled a laugh as Gaara schooled his face into something that surprisingly didn't resemble pure hatred, and put a hand on Sasori's shoulder. "He's just helping, sensei. What's wrong with that?"

Sasori mumbled something about 'ulterior motives' and 'untrustworthy' under his breath. Gaara really did look like he was concentrating _very_ hard on not ripping his head off, and Neji was – Neji was Neji. Mr Perfect. Enough said.

Suddenly Sasori threw up his hands, in turn forcing Gaara's hand off his shoulder, and said loudly, "All right! Fine! Do what you like just _don't_ get in my way. I'm not even going to ask what the hell's going on."

Oh this class was going to be _so_ fun.

Sasori needed a soldering iron; I got one ready for him.

He needed a piece of copper; Neji handed it to him.

He wanted the class to shut up; Gaara scared everyone into silence.

And if he wanted anything done that required thought, Shikamaru was there in an instant to help him out.

The pineapple-head's enthusiasm made us all falter. Just a little. I don't think any of us had seen him put in so much effort for someone else before. Ever. Not even me, and he'd been helping me with various issues since he saved my arse a few years ago

And Sasori had to try not to tear our hair out during the entire lesson

He was completely confused, obviously stunned that every time he turned around one of us was there to help when usually we'd watch him flounder with some sick expression of amused satisfaction.

A bit of a turn around, to say the least.

And _man_ fucking with people's heads is fun.

--

I sat on the uncomfortable chair outside Tsunade's office, checking the clock for the thousandth time that hour.

The second the bell for lunch had gone, Shisui appeared in my Metalwork class and yanked me out of there, ignoring the strange looks from Sasori and my classmates. He ignored me as well when I asked him just what in hell did he think he was doing.

"I need to see Tsunade," was all he said, and I stared at him.

"You really don't know, do you?"

He shook his head, but funnily enough he was dragging me in the right direction. "Come on, man. You so do."

"No really, I don't."

That explained nothing, of course.

We went straight to Tsunade's office, him leading the way and refusing to tell me why we were going. God only knows _why_ I was dragged along too. His secretiveness was really starting to shit me. Seriously. I found myself grinding my teeth so much just in these last couple of days that I kept telling myself I wouldn't have any left if I kept that up. The meeting had been going for nearing on _forever_, and no doubt they were discussing things of great important to me, except – oh no, Sasuke can't know what's going on despite being directly related to the issue. Of course not. That would be stupid.

I scowled at the dark carpeted floor before directing it at that ominous wooden door to the principal's office, cursing it to a whole range of places along with that woman inside it.

Well, no, actually. She was quite nice, and while it had taken her a while to understand what her problem was, I felt I could sympathise now. But oh, so she wasn't a bitch and she was being blackmailed and had a lot of issues behind her – so what?

She could at least leave the door open a crack so I could hear _something_.

"Are they _still_ in there?"

I looked up at the vaguely familiar voice, nodding dejectedly at Shizune as she juggled a heavy stack of papers and frowned at the door beside me.

"Yep."

"What's that now, then? An hour? Hour and a half?"

I shrugged. "Too long."

Shizune nodded thoughtfully. "I don't know why she wanted all this now if she's still in a meeting…" She glanced down at me with a curious look. "He's your cousin, right? Or some relation."

I nodded carefully, unsure of how much I was allowed to say. "Some relation, yes."

She didn't seem to pick up on my obvious avoidance tactic, merely humming thoughtfully to herself. Suddenly, she stepped up to the door and knocked sharply three times before opening up and letting herself in.

I strained my ears as I watched her walk in and drop the papers on Tsunade's desk, but, of course, they stopped their conversation the second the door was opened.

"That's everything you wanted, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said quietly, bowing and heading back out the door.

"Thank you, Shizune."

The short woman ducked out the door, closing it behind herself. But not all the way, I noticed with a smirk. She closed it so that it was resting open just slightly, and winked at me on her way past. I nodded in acknowledgement and thanks, my respect for the already-respected woman shooting up a couple of notches. She made it to the end of the hall, just outside the door leading back into the front office, and Tsunade had gotten as far as "Sorry about the interruption. So how many -?" before that damned smartarse cousin of mine cut her off.

"Shizune-san?"

I looked to the left as she hit the wall lightly with her palm, turning back to me and murmuring, "I tried," on her way past.

"Yes?" she asked innocently, poking her head into the room.

"Please close the door properly this time. We can't have the wrong ears listening in."

Bastard. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to pick up that hint.

"Yes, sir."

And the door definitely clicked shut this time.

Well, I'd just have to force it out of him later. Perhaps a threat to unleash Itachi on him would do the trick…

An hour later, no Japanese class and five minutes into science, they finally walked out, laughing like old friends and saying 'we should do this again sometime'. I narrowed my eyes at the both of them, especially my cousin.

Oh he was _not_ going to do this to me.

The second Tsunade was back behind her enormous doors I turned on Shisui with a glare.

"And?"

He began to walk down the hall, me following. "And what?"

"And what was all that about?"

"You know what it was about."

"Yes, but I'd like to know what happened."

"We talked."

"About what?"

"You know what."

_Ugh_. He always was good at circular arguments to avoid saying what he didn't want to. Fine. I'd get him when he least expected it.

I went back to science, chewed my lip as I fumed silently the entire time, ignored Naruto right back, and couldn't get out of there fast enough as the bell went. Meeting Shisui outside the gate as soon as school was over, I began to hound him immediately.

Each attempt was met with a warning-filled "_Sasuke_."

I tried again several times on the way home, my frustration steadily getting the better of me as I was either shut down or ignored every time. How could he do that? How could he drag me along to a meeting for apparently no reason whatsoever, not invite me in, then refuse to even tell me what transpired?

Seriously – what was the _point_?

So I whipped out the Itachi threat when we got home. It didn't work. Which is why I was in my room, battling with the written part of my metalwork assignment (again, overdue. Fights with your boyfriend could do that to you), pointedly ignoring him like he did to me. I spoke to him long enough to say grumpily, "I have homework. Start dinner," but that was it. He wasn't worth the breath, really. He'd been an arsehole last night, annoyingly like Itachi today with absolutely _no_ hint of feeling apologetic for yesterday, and he was still acting all superior and I-am-more-knowledgeable-than-though with this meeting crap.

So I was in the dark about everything.

Still.

I wasn't used to that.

I didn't like it.

All I wanted to know was – okay, so I wanted to know everything, but it all seemed so much worse now that I didn't know what the hell was up with Naruto, either. I honestly had no clue. All the way home, while I was busy hounding Shisui then proceeding to ignore him because he was _crap_, I tried to work it out. Work all of it out.

So we had a fight almost a week ago, that I understood. I also understood that perhaps he was still a bit pissed about the way I flipped out when I went round to see him on Saturday, but it was everything _after_ that that threw me off completely.

He said he loved me, and though a large part of me wanted to pass it off as us just being young, it didn't mean anything, an even bigger part knew it was the truth.

It was the truth.

Oh God, it was the truth.

Naruto didn't do stuff like that. He put his heart into absolutely everything, and never would he only e half in. He couldn't _not_ love me. Right from the start he hated me with everything he had – _everything_. Then we both accepted that perhaps there was something else, and he was entirely ready for it. He threw away all his issues and jumped straight in. With me. Because he did that. He did things like forgive people. He did things like fall in love with bastards like me.

But if he _did_ love me, as he'd so insisted, then why was he being so frustrating? Seriously. I just _didn't get it_.

Why would he ignore me if he'd basically forgiven me? Why would he ignore me if he wanted answers? If he wanted to know what had been going on practically since we'd gotten together three months ago?

I threw my pen angrily at the desk, scowling horribly and practically growling out my complete frustration.

Naruto was supposed to be easy to read. He always had been and always _would_ be, but now here I was, confused out of my mind because I didn't understand what the hell was going through _his_.

I'm an observant person. Blame it on the environment I grew up in or whatever, but I had always made a point of looking further into things than most people, and learning those around me.

For instance, the man I could see outside my window right now, our neighbour, watering the garden and whistling to himself, was a liar. He blinked too much, looked over his shoulder, whistled a tune that was far too obvious. He was probably cheating on his wife, or doing something just as shifty, by the way he frequently checked his phone. He was slouched as he walked from plant to plant, giving each one a generous amount of water despite the rain that was forecast for tomorrow night. Because he wanted to spend as much time as possible away from his wife. It was simple.

It took me all of ten seconds to work that out. I probably could have done it in five it Naruto wasn't occupying an enormous portion of my brain while another portion was taken up by being frustrated at Shisui.

And that annoyed me.

I could look at pretty much anyone (except a select few) and figure them out. Shisui and Itachi, on his good days, had taught me what they knew, and I absorbed it all. I could know what someone was feeling even if their voice claimed something completely different, it didn't matter who it was. Even Gaara, who suffered from epic emotional _fail_.

And now… now Naruto. _Naruto_ stumped me. Out of all the shifty bastards involved in this roller coaster of events, it was _Naruto_ who made me stop and think.

And that didn't make sense.

* * *

I'm sorry for the awful cut off point... It was the only place that seemed right, and otherwise this chapter would've been a monster.

And I don't want to sound whingey or naggy, but really, if you're still reading this and want me to continue then tell me. There are still a handful of you who review regularly and the only reason I'm even updating this is because of you guys. I don't have to do it. I have mid-year exams coming up and I could (seriously should) be studying right now. This story is really just an extra pressure I'm putting on myself because even though its already written, I have to edit each chapter and that takes longer than you would think.

I don't expect an epic review or _anything_ like that, but it would just be nice to know who's still with it, that's all.

Um... yes. Sorry? –hides-


	22. Violence Is Not The Answer

...O__O ... Now I feel like a needy review-whore... Thank you so much everyone! Including all you wonderful anonymous people who reviewed anyway! -cries- Okay, I'll stop being pushy and crap! (And thank you repeatedly for your good luck wishes regarding exams! Ganbarimasu!)

Anyway! This chapter is a but of a nothing chapter, I think... Maye. But it's leading up to BIG THINGS so bear with me. And when I say big, I really do mean big. Next chapter will be _far_ more entertaining. Maybe you'll gnaw your nails off, fall off the edge of your seat in anticipation, develop high blood pressure - either way, it's next chapter and you'll have to brave the somewhat crappiness (and serious enormousness) of this chapter to get there.

oh oh oh! Good news! I HAVE A BETA! EVERYONE BOW DOWN TO **KL LOVER** BECAUSE SHE'S AMAZING and taking away my stress XD I'm actually developing a genuine fear of drowning in schoolwork. Oh, and she pointed out a couple of things that I'd forgotten:

**Haku is a boy**. I refer to him as a 'she' several times because really, he is _very_ girly, and the gang don't like him so they call him a girl.

**'Shat me up the wall'**. Translation from colloquial Australian: 'Drove me up the wall'. Just for future reference XD

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

22. VIOLENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER

"We're going."

"No we're not."

"Yes we are."

"_No_, we're not."

"Shisui."

"Sasuke."

"I'm being serious."

"As am I. I would like to finish my coffee."

"Your coffee can wait."

"No, I don't think it can."

"Well I do, now get off your fat arse and get going."

He looked up at that. "I am _not_ –"

"Fat?" I smirked. "Sure. Now, we're going."

"You _can_ go without me, you know."

I released a heavy breath of frustration. "No, sorry. Not happening."

He took another slow sip. "Oh?"

"I don't know if Itachi's going to walk through that door early from his week off or not, and I don't want you alone in the house _ever_, just in case that happens. Because knowing him, he'll chuck an unreasonable hissy fit at Kisame and come running back home. My dear brother thinks you're dead. If he comes home and sees you, what do you think is going to happen?"

My cousin scowled at me good and proper, raised an eyebrow over the rim of his cup, and drank the entire remaining contents in one gulp. "_Now_ we can go."

Finally. He was seeing it my way, even if I might have been a little paranoid. I wasn't taking the risk.

Tapping my foot impatiently as he gathered his bag, being pointedly slow about it, I forcibly pulled him out the door when he finally got there. Checking the time on my phone again, I mentally swore.

Growling under my breath, I set off at a hurried pace. "And now, thanks to you, I'm going to be late."

He matched me step for step, easier for him due to his long legs. "And?"

"And I have Ibiki-sensei."

He shrugged. I almost tripped in shock.

"Wha-?"

"I need you to show me where the science block is, so you're going to be late anyway. I can write you a note, if you'd like."

I laughed breathily, shaking my head at him. "Dude, you're _not_ that old. You know where the science block is, just like you knew where Tsunade's office was yesterday."

"No I don't."

"Yes you – ugh! I'm not going through this crap with you again. You can get there on your own, and if you really need help, go ask someone at the office or something. I have classes to get to because I missed two days last week and have overdue work, so – wait, don't you have classes to teach?"

He nodded, seemingly unphased by anything I'd said. "Yes."

I looked at him expectantly. "Then why don't you go and teach them?"

He shrugged again, his mind obviously completely elsewhere as he stared blankly ahead, lips turned down into a frown.

"What, are you helping as a lab tech or something now too?"

All he did was shake his head absently. Bloody hell! Is it a family trait to be excruciatingly secretive or what?

I gritted my teeth. "Whatever. I'm not leading you around everywhere just because you're lazy. Find your own way there."

I was about to storm off in an annoyed huff like I was so good at doing, but he stopped me in my tracks as he said in a vague, know-it-all way, "Fine, don't learn anything then."

I narrowed my eyes at his back as he continued walking, though at a much slower pace, and cursed inwardly. Oh I get it. Sneaky bastard.

I hurried after him. "You win. Shut up."

He just flashed me a smirk. Yeah, he knew it.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, me defiantly keeping my mouth shut and him drifting off with an obviously thoughtful look. And while I couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking about, judging by the restless frown it wasn't something nice, and that 'something' could really only be Orochimaru. No doubt what he and Tsunade talked about that was oh-so-secretive, I thought with narrowed eyes.

But thinking of Orochimaru led me to wondering what went on yesterday. It wasn't just one of his ordinary, regular flip-outs – he was more hysterical, and half of what he said didn't even relate to our drama performance either. Well, maybe it did if you squinted _really_ hard at it, but for the most part it was a completely, over-the-top, insecure reaction to something that probably could've been worked through quite easily. Provided Naruto and I were willing to overlook the awkwardness. Which would've been impossible.

But it didn't require yelling on _that_ scale.

So what did?

I frowned, thinking back.

There was something… something Itachi had said. I looked up as we entered the school, and saw Kakashi strolling off lazily, probably in the complete opposite direction to his class.

No… it wasn't –

Sasori and Deidara.

_That's_ what it was.

Last week Itachi had said that Sasori, Deidara and Orochimaru had some huge argument and the sidekicks, as such, were leaving. Either actually leaving the Akatsuki or just Orochimaru, but it didn't really matter. It _had_ to be about that. Nothing would distress Orochimaru more than disloyalty when he really needed it. He always felt safe that Naruto wouldn't snitch on him and was overly confident that I would join his twisted excuse for a theatre company. He was the sort of person that _needed_ people to support and follow him. Groupies, essentially. If they left, of course he would lose it. He would be lost.

That didn't excuse him, though. Nothing did. He and the other's deserved to have everything fall in a heap around them.

"Sasuke?"

Shisui cut into my thoughts, and I glanced up at him, eyebrows raised in question.

"Which way?"

I scowled. "You _know_ the way."

"No I –"

"_Yes_, you _do_," I interrupted, frustrated out of my mind. "I have more important things to do than give you directions, got it? You know where everything is, so why do you need me to _show_ you? It's just a waste of time!"

He looked at me sternly. "Does it matter?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well _I_ don't know, you tell me."

He grabbed my wrist, dragging me through the entrance and out towards the science block. "Then no, it doesn't."

I didn't have a choice, despite my annoyed protesting, and stumbled after him. I ripped my hand out of his grip, turning on him with a glare once he finally stopped walking, and was about to give him a downright verbal beating when Kakashi and Iruka walked out of the science staffroom.

"The older Uchiha, I take it?" Kakashi held out a hand.

Huh, so he _was_ walking in the right direction.

My cousin nodded, accepting Kakashi and Iruka's hands in turn. "Pleasure to meet you. Call me Shisui."

I crossed my arms, glaring as they all bowed shallowly. "I see they were expecting you. Now, if you don't mind, I have a class to get to."

Shisui's arm flashed out as I made to turn around and latched onto my bag, forcing me to stop. "_You_ are staying right here."

Iruka cast a nervous and confused glance at my cousin, clearly unsure about me being here. Kakashi just looked on with a carefully blank face.

"Are you –?" Iruka tried.

Shisui cut him off with a fake smile. "I'd prefer it if he was here. He doesn't have to be in the room, but I would like him nearby. I'm sure you understand why." He gave each of them a pointed look, to which they both nodded immediately. Obviously they caught on faster than me.

"Of course," Kakashi smiled (well, I assumed he was smiling by the crinkling at the corner of his eye), turning to gesture into Iruka's office. "If you would step inside, we'll get started straight away."

Then I was forced into an uncomfortable seat outside the office door with an almost _pleading_ look from Shisui – but absolutely no explanation. He dragged me here, plainly against my will, made me stay for reasons he refused to explain, and then sat me outside. How was that logical? No seriously, how did all of that piece together in his mind to make even the vaguest amount of sense? How was I supposed to "learn something" if I was shut outside the room again?

I scowled, cursing under my breath.

Stuff it.

If he thought he could play games with me and feed off my obvious need to know what he did, then he could get stuffed. I wasn't just going to sit here like the idiot he obviously thought I was and wait for any scrap of information to be carelessly thrown my way. I didn't wait for things. I went out there and got them.

I picked up my bag, not bothering to tell them I was leaving, and stormed out of the science block. I passed a couple of stragglers on my way up to the lockers and back down, but paid them no mind. I was too lost in my thoughts to even acknowledge Tenten on my way down the steps. And I wasn't in the mood for Ibiki's joy of publicly humiliating students he didn't like.

He stared at me for a moment when I opened the door roughly, and the entire class fell into a hushed silence. I stared back, clenching my jaw.

"Do you know what time it is?"

I glanced at the clock on the wall. "Twenty past nine."

"Do you know what that means?"

"I'm half an hour late."

"And why might that be?"

"Because my cousin's an arsehole."

"Does that have anything to do with the question?"

"Probably not."

"Do you care that you're more than likely going to get an after school detention?"

"Not particularly."

He raised an eyebrow. "No?"

I shrugged. "No. I'd really just like to sit down, you know."

Ibiki stared at me for a moment, saying nothing, and I wondered, at the very far reaches of my mind, whether that was a good idea or not. But suddenly his face broke out into the creepiest grin I'd ever seen and he turned to look over the terrified class.

"I do believe Uchiha is the first of all of you to find his spine." He glanced at me as I blinked stupidly. "Take a seat." To the rest of the class, he growled, "Everyone else – catch up. Page 134."

---

I dropped my pen and clenched my jaw, breathing sharply through my nose as I gripped my hair in my hands. Shino looked up from the opposite side of the group of tables, but I shook my head at his questioning look. Well, as questioning as he could be behind those stupid glasses…

I looked up at the clock with a scowl.

Two more minutes. I could handle that. If only Haku would stop glaring holes into the back of my head.

I ran an agitated hand through my hair as Hinata talked about… something. I probably should've been listening, but – what was his _problem_?

Okay, so maybe I was the one who kicked everything into action, therefore dragging his guardian, or whoever it was, into it, and in turn caused him to do a runner, but seriously – he hadn't stopped glaring at me since yesterday morning outside the arts building. Every time we passed each other in the hall he would have to bump into me in some way, or make some loud comment to one of his friends that I really couldn't miss even if I wasn't listening for it.

What was he hoping to achieve with that? If it was all to piss me off then, by God, it was working. Today had only just started and it was already as shitty as yesterday. I was tired; tired of everything.

So when the bell rang and we all filed out of the classroom, I didn't even resist as I was yanked to the side and thrown against a solid brick wall, head snapping back and smacking against it painfully.

I rolled my eyes, half intentionally and half due to the splitting pain suddenly threatening to consume my brain, and looked somewhere to the left of him as he loomed right up in my face, his admittedly pretty features contorted in his obvious anger, tightly controlled though it was. And here come the accusations and all the wonderful things associated with it.

"What the _fuck_ did you do?"

What a guess.

"I'm pretty sure I just walked out of the classroom and you were kind enough to chuck me at a wall. Now I have a headache."

He growled in a very unbecoming manner. "Shut up, Uchiha. I don't have the patience."

"Neither do I, so let me go."

"Not until you tell me where he went."

"How should I know?!" I exclaimed, indignant.

The fists gripping the front of my jacket clenched tighter, and he pushed harder against me. "I'm a very forgiving person, Uchiha, but you're really testing me."

"I don't _know_," I growled, finally looking at him and glaring properly. "I'm sorry if you've been affected by whatever I've unintentionally stirred up, but I _don't_ need you staring me down like I'm the scum of the earth twenty-four-seven, okay? We've both got our own sides of this to deal with, so just take a breath and think about whose fault it _really_ is. I don't know what you may or may not know, but I'm assuming you know a truckload more than me, so use that and talk with some sense."

His eyes flickered back and forth between my own, probably trying to figure out if I was telling the truth. I stared back lazily, not caring if he believed me or not. It didn't affect me at all, no matter what conclusion he came to. Well I might get a black eye, but I could deal with that. I couldn't deal with this unnecessary hatred of me, though. I was sick of everyone seeing me as the problem when I didn't actually mean for _any_ of the following events to happen. How was I supposed to know all the intricacies behind it all? How the _hell_ was I expected to immediately understand what one action would cause in turn?

When a few certain people realise that, perhaps they could stop _blaming_ me.

I closed my eyes, jaw clenched, and felt Haku's hands loosen slightly.

"But he mentioned Kakashi, and _you_. You two and that Uzumaki kid. He said… he said –"

"He could have been referring to any one of three Uchihas, you realise," I said thoughtfully, still, with my eyes closed and not caring in the slightest that he could very well punch the living daylights out of me at the moment and I wouldn't do a thing to stop him.

I felt him shrug. "I hear Uchiha and Uzumaki in the same sentence and I think of you, therefore _you_ did something that caused him to run. The _both_ of you."

"And Kakashi didn't?"

"I was told to stay away from him. Not from either of you two though."

"Then why don't you hound _him_ about it?!"

If _that_ wasn't unfair then I didn't know what was.

"I did. He honestly had no idea what I was on about. So that left you, Uchiha."

I blinked my eyes open slowly, finally getting a little interested. "You didn't tell him anything, did you?"

Haku raised a delicate eyebrow with an ill-fitting smirk. "Should I not have?"

I gritted my teeth. "I swear, Haku, if you –"

"Relax. He was obviously clueless. I didn't waste my time on him. _You_, however, definitely know things you shouldn't, which gives me great confidence that you know very well what happened to Zabuza, so spill and I'll let you go nicely."

I let out an inward sigh of relief, careful not to let it show on my features as my heart rate calmed down considerably. So Naruto was still safe.

Outwardly, I arched an eyebrow. "You already know you can't beat me. No use using empty threats."

He glowered at me. "Those classes mean nothing and you know it. They're no way to correctly judge skill. Now _tell_ me what you know."

I shifted against the wall uncomfortably, wincing as the obvious lump at the back of my head was bumped lightly. "I've already told you, I don't –"

"Yes you _do_."

A few kids started spilling out into the yard after putting their books away. I ignored the ones that pointed over at us. Stupid year sevens itching for a fight.

"I don't know anything about _Zabuza_."

"Uchiha, just say it."

I rolled my eyes, knowing I was just stalling to be an arsehole. "Fine."

"_Thank_ you."

"But let me go first."

"I don't trust you."

"Oh for fuck's sake, Haku! Stop acting all high and mighty here! It's not a fucking interrogation."

He looked a little taken aback at my sudden burst of aggression and fighting spirit, but nevertheless released his suffocating grip on my shirt reluctantly. He didn't step away at all though, and I knew it was so that he would be able to stop me if I decided to do anything funny.

Paranoia, anyone? Jeez.

"I only know what you no doubt know already. Zabuza was snooping around a bit too much or whatever, and got caught. Simple."

"By who?"

"Sasori and Deidara. My brother heard them arguing."

"And your brother…?"

"Has _nothing_ to do with this, got it?"

He lifted a hand, shaking his head. "All right, all right. What was he looking for?"

"Probably background information on Deidara. Maybe Sasori, but I think you already know that, don't you?"

He ignored my question in an obvious way, and yet cleverly answered it in another. Lucky we were virtually on the same wavelength. "And why would he be looking for information on Deidara?"

"You know why."

"But that doesn't explain why he mentioned you guys before he left."

I groaned in exasperation. "What are you two – _married_? I don't _care_ why he left, I'm just glad he's out of harm's way, and that's only because he's on our side – at least I think he is. Was. Whatever. The point _is_, I don't know any more than you, and it's _not_ my fault that he's pissed but, but _his_ –"

I saw the fist before it came flying at my jaw, but really, so what? I let it hit me, I don't know why. I just did. I didn't care enough to dodge. Perhaps I thought it would knock some life into me. Or some sense. Or something. Although the whack on the back of the head should've done that earlier.

In any case, Haku still punched _really_ freaking hard, and my hand immediately went up to cradle my soon-to-be-bruised jaw. I winced as I opened and closed my mouth, making sure the damn girl hadn't very well _broken_ it, and frowned at the vaguely tingly sensation. That always felt a little weird.

"It's _not_ his fault," Haku was seething, hands back at my collar, only tighter this time, pressing against my neck. "He only got dragged into this because he was asked by whomever _you_'_ve_ got working for you."

"_Me_?" I all but spluttered. "You honestly think _I'm_ the one doing everything?" I raised fists of my own, jerking him forward right into my face and I growled, "I may have been the one to start it, but that was the biggest mistake of my life and I've been confused out of my mind since. I have _never_ called the shots here, if that's what you're thinking, and now I know next to fuck-all of what's going on ever since your whatever-his-name-is had to bail. I had nothing to do with that, and if you feel the need to blame someone, you've got a choice between three sorry excuses for human beings.

And that satisfying _crack_ as my fist connected harshly could only mean a broken nose. Damn that felt good. I've wanted to do that to _anyone_ for over a week now.

I practically _sighed_ as we struck out at each other again and again, feeling the tension roll off me in waves. We were completely unrefined and careless, and didn't even stop when those charming year sevens hovered around chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" as they did so intelligently.

In all honesty, beating the brains out of someone felt like a brilliant therapy session. All "And how do you _feel_ about that?" questions were just explained with a solid punch to the guts.

Whoever said violence wasn't the answer obviously hadn't tried it out very often.

Apparently Ibiki didn't support this view, however, and came barging through the cheering crowd with shouts of "Break it up _now_, you sorry little miscreants!"

Of course, that didn't stop us. As I had Haku pinned to the ground about to punch him one for all I was worth I was lifted to my feet in a gut-lurching way by Ibiki.

"I _said_," he growled menacingly, "_Break. It. Up._"

I twisted out of his grip and scowled down at Haku, the overwhelming _need_ to hurt him not subsiding in the slightest. He glared right back – and I don't know what made me do it. I held out a hand to him.

He looked up at me in a half-daze, confused at my sudden change of heart, but nodded in apparent understanding when I gave him a pointed look. He grimaced as he reached up and gripped my hand, and we both made noises of complaint as I yanked him to his feet none-too-gently.

What, just because I helped him up didn't mean I was going to do it _nicely_.

The effort made my head feel like it was dangerously close to imploding. There was no way it could be this painful and _not_ about to do something drastic like that. _Shit_.

"I don't even care what that was about and I don't want to know. You're going to the first aid office."

"We're fine, re-"

"_Now_." He turned us both around and gave us a rough shove in the right direction. "Your year coordinator will be paying you a visit."

Oh great. None other than Anko-sensei. I thought my days of dealing with her were over.

But there was _some_ satisfaction to be had when Ibiki scared the wits out of the remaining crowd of short kids. That was always amusing.

--

"I don't have time for this, and quite frankly I think we'd all rather be somewhere else. You two look spent, though no doubt you deserve it, so let's just keep this short and simple, Yes?"

We both nodded hesitantly, me with one ice pack to the back of my head and one to my jaw and cheek, and him with one strapped to his fingers (I knew he was fragile) and the other covering the entire left side of his face as well as his swollen nose.

We were both a bit of a mess, in short.

But God it was fun.

Anko looked between us with a grimace and said sternly, "Will you do it again? No? Good. Detention for an hour tomorrow and Thursday after school, no final extra-curricular class, and lunchtime detentions for the rest of the week starting tomorrow because I have a meeting today. I am aware that on Friday you will be dismissed at the beginning of lunch for the end of term, but I don't care. You two will come straight to my office for your hour detention. No arguments, no excuses. Excellent. I'll see you at lunch time tomorrow in the art staff room."

We both ducked our heads in a half-bow as she turned out of the room, muttering under her breath, "Boys. Honestly."

But something didn't quite click in my mind, and I frowned. The play was on Thursday... so if I had to stay back an hour, then –

"Anko-sensei!"

She was back in the room in a flash, smiling in a horribly sweet way. "Yes, my delightful little trouble maker?"

I frowned. "The drama performance is on Thursday."

She nodded. "Good observation."

"If I have an hour detention then I'll be late."

"Most likely, yes."

"So..."

"I'm sorry, Uchiha, but which part of 'no arguments and no excuses' did you miss?"

"None."

She smiled that sickeningly sweet smile again. "My point exactly. Have a nice day."

Well, that went well.

I sat there scowling at the door as Haku tried not to laugh, having the decency to hold it back out of politeness. I smirked with some satisfaction as he shifted the ice pack covering his nose and cheek a little and hissed sharply, cursing under his breath. I kept his reaction in mind and kept the one at the back of my head as still as possible.

The silence between us stretched as two female voices at the end of the hall drifted into the room, too quiet for us to hear properly. An older student walked past the door, took a glance inside and promptly burst into laughter. He left when we both stared at him with the promise of death.

"I'm not going to say sorry, you know," I said suddenly, breaking the silence.

"I wasn't expecting you to," he shrugged.

"We both meant it."

His gaze flickered over to me for a second before rolling back up to the ceiling. "True, true."

The somewhat grudging silence stretched out again, only broken by the sharp exhale of air as one of us brushed a sore spot. I still would've done it again though, despite how much pain I was currently in, how much shit I would get from Shisui and probably Sakura, and how much it would screw me by having so many detentions. It still felt undeniably refreshing to have beat someone up nicely. Of course, not as refreshing as when Naruto and I had – well _that_ certainly didn't help my headache now, did it? I really didn't need to be agonising over the stupid dobe in this condition. It only seemed to make everything hurt even more for some reason.

Brilliant.

We both looked over as Shizune came back, scowling disapprovingly at the both of us. She mumbled under her breath in much the same way as Anko did, as she checked our various cuts and bruises, though not sounding as pissed off with us. Just... motherly. Disappointedly. She kept giving me vaguely annoyed looks. It made me uncomfortable.

I waited impatiently as she checked over Haku, assessing his clearly broken nose carefully, turning his head this way and that until finally deeming him well enough to go back to class just as the end of recess bell went, sending him off with a long list of instructions and ordering him to be careful.

I sort of felt the need to say something as he slowly got to his feet and gathered his books, looking disturbingly like a real boy with his colourful array of bruises, and so cleared my throat awkwardly. He turned to me, as did Shizune, and both looked at me expectantly. In the ongoing silence, in which I mentally kicked myself, Shizune lifted a condescending eyebrow.

"Do you have something to say, Uchiha? Perhaps you'd like to apologise. Or maybe threaten to do it again if he ever says that about your girlfriend. Either way I don't really mind, but this suspense is killing me."

Haku and I both looked at her strangely. She said it all with a perfectly deadpan expression.

I shook my head, careful not to move too fast in case my vision spun out or my skull imploded or something delightful like that.

I gave him an intense look, mulling a few things over in my head.

Belting each other senseless the way we did made me realise how pointless all this hatred between us was. No, I wasn't turning soft all of a sudden – I was being reasonable. I – _we_ – had too many enemies in this already, and I didn't need to keep any needless ones. If Haku was on Zabuza's side and Zabuza was on _our_ side, then didn't that mean _we_ were on the same side? Sure, he must've had other reasons for becoming involved, but it wasn't the reasons that mattered, it was the goal. So what sense did it make to fight each other?

None.

Exactly.

I heaved myself up off the bed carefully, wincing as the change in levels made my mind do strange things and my eyes become unfocused, and slowly began to make my way towards the satisfyingly beaten up boy by the door.

When I reached him I held out my hand, not entirely sure what I meant by it. He looked down at it for a while, brow furrowed, before tilting his head at me and making some vague sense of connection in his mind, returning the offered handshake firmly.

I had no idea what I'd just gotten myself into, because that smirk he was wearing told me he had a habit of not playing fair, but.... whatever. That was one person I didn't have to question now. I didn't care what he did or how he played his game, as long as we both got what we wanted in the end then it was fine.

I still wasn't going to be nice, though. Everyone had people they just didn't get along with; I had Haku. Nothing could make me _like_ him, but for the sake of getting this over and done with, we would have to get over it. Temporarily.

Then I'd break his face.

We nodded to each other in some sort of understanding before he did a shampoo-ad swish of his hair and left.

Huh.

I could only hope something useful came out of whatever I just did.

I was yanked out of my momentary musings by a disgruntled Shizune forcing me back onto the edge of the bed so she could inspect my head and eye, which luckily hadn't started bruising.

"I'm going to assume that handshake was a mutual apology and ignore it if it wasn't. But –," she appeared back in front of me, fingers still pressing uncomfortably on the bruising lump, and gave me a concerned look. "Sasuke, I do wish you would be careful. I know that you and Naruto haven't been having the best week, but you don't know who you're dealing with. Taking your anger out on him could get you into some serious trouble."

I raised an eyebrow at her, surprised. Maybe Tsunade told her a lot more than we'd originally thought. Then again, she _was_ the one who told Kakashi and Iruka in the first place, accidentally or not.

"Well maybe taking his anger out on me will land him in some serious trouble too."

She raised an eyebrow of her own, but an almost proud look was in her eyes as she desperately held back a smile.

"Perhaps indeed, but –"

"I think that's enough, Shizune-san. Thank you."

We both snapped our heads up, me following with a grimace, as Shisui stepped into the room. My grimace became a scowl as he stood just inside the doorway with him arms folded and giving Shizune a pointed look.

She glanced back at me hesitantly before sighing with an obviously annoyed expression. "You should stay in here for a while; you have concussion and need to rest. What's your next class?"

"Maths."

"With Asuma-sensei?"

I nodded.

She stood up straight after having to bend down to my level. "I'll let him know you'll be late; it shouldn't be a problem." Then she turned to my cousin, bringing herself up to her full height and looking as imposing as she could. "I would ask you to please be quick, Uchiha-san, Sasuke needs to rest and I would prefer it if he was left alone."

Shisui nodded, falsely polite, and half-bowed to Shizune on her way out. I noticed how he didn't make any promises. He would keep me here and give me a piece of his mind for as long as he liked and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Maybe I could pretend to pass out from the mental strain or something and he would shut up.

"Would you like to explain?"

I shrugged. "There's nothing to explain."

He gave me a 'that's-bullshit-and-we-both-know-it' look.

I glared. "What makes you think I'm going to tell you when you've explained nothing to me since you got here?"

My cousin sat down on the end of the uncomfortable bed and rested his elbows on his knees, looking at his clasped hands in front of him with a shrug. "You know why I'm not telling you."

"No, I actually don't. You didn't explain that either."

He sighed and glanced at me quickly before staring back at his hands. "Sasuke, I would like you to tell me why you got into a fight with _him_ of all people. What started it?"

"He threw me at a wall."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I beat him in a fight during fencing class and he wanted to get me back."

He gave me a sharp look. "Don't lie Sasuke."

I shifted into a more comfortable position, wishing Shizune hadn't taken the ice pack off me because _damn_ my head was throbbing. "I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"I don't have to tell you, all right? Why are you the only one who can keep secrets around here?"

"Because I have to!" he said exasperatedly, finally turning to look at me properly.

"And I don't?"

"No!"

"So you can drag me around without telling me why and just expect me to take it in my stride when _you_ always told me to never let anyone push me around and to ask questions and learn things for myself. You always taught me never to trust anyone except myself, so that's what I'm doing. I want you to _tell_ me why you're here and what you're doing and let _me_ deal with it myself. I'll decide if it's too much to handle or not."

He just stared, no hint of apology in his eyes whatsoever, but the fact that he said nothing was like an open invitation to continue, so I asked, "Why have you been dragging me to meetings without letting me in? You tricked me into that last one."

His expression remained exactly the same – blank and indifferent yet quietly contemplative – save the slightest narrowing of the eyes as my question made him uncomfortable. After a short silence, he finally gave me an answer.

"I've been taking you everywhere with me because I don't trust Orochimaru."

I stared him down until he elaborated.

"I don't know where he is every second of the day, and I do _not_ want him finding you on your own."

"Why?"

"Because I've heard him talk about you and saying it makes me wary is a gross understatement. I don't ever want you to be in a room alone with him, I don't want him within ten feet of you, and if this somehow falls through and he manages to stay on as a teacher to support himself, you're moving schools and I'll force your friend's parents to make them move as well. Of course, that's just a precaution. There's no way he can outsmart us."

I let it turn over in my head, but the only thing that came out of my surprise at his steadfastness was more questions.

"What's he been saying?"

Shisui faltered for a moment, unsure how much to tell. "Unpleasant things."

I narrowed my eyes. "Such as?"

"Sasuke, they're things I don't want to repeat."

I blinked.

And fought the urge to throw up.

Ew.

I scrambled for something else to say. "Okay, fair enough, but why didn't you just _say_ that in the first place instead of dragging me around? It would've been a lot easier."

Shisui shrugged. "I felt uncomfortable saying it. Now you know and now I don't want you to argue with me if I take you somewhere without an explanation. During breaks I want you with at least three other friends, and I know there's nothing I can do about your drama class, but I just hope you'll be as careful as you can be, and do _not_ do anything that might provoke him."

"Why can't I help?" I asked for the thousandth time.

"Because you're too young," he answered, also for the thousandth time and sounding a little too much like my father for comfort.

"Think of it as training," I said.

"Sasuke, why would I consider it training when I don't even want you to go there? I don't care how determined you are, _I'm_ determined to make you stay because you _don't know what's out there._"

I opened my mouth to argue, being the annoyingly demanding teenager I was, but he cut me off and raised his hand, his expression suddenly painfully easy to read. He was _pleading_ with me.

"Sasuke, this is serious. I need you to listen to me. This is _not_ a game. This is _not_ something we can just call training. Training is a simulation. Training doesn't involve children. Training doesn't involve dealing with people like _them_. It's not just you and Orochimaru. I don't want Haruno or Sabaku around the other two either, if they can help it, and they're already suspecting a couple of other friends of yours. Things can get messy _very_ easily and I _need_ you to stay as safe as possible. Keep your head down and don't do anything to aggravate _any_ of them. They can do more horrible things to you than you would ever dare imagine."

And with those wonderful words ringing in my head, and the fact that I wasn't allowed to ask just who 'they' were, I sat through maths completely blank. I'm sure Sakura tried to talk to me several times, and the entire class did that stupid "Oooh!" sound when I walked in, looking between me and Haku and making the connection in their painfully tiny brains.

I was still frustrated at Shisui, of course I was, but I suddenly realised how hard this was for him. He was coming in late into the game and holding all the information, thanks to me, a couple of friends, two people he'd only just met and his line of business. Random things were thrown at him and he'd come here with everyone's fates resting on his shoulders, and we all just _demanded_ him to fix it.

Sure there were people helping, but he was the only one with the means to actually do any permanent damage, so everyone suddenly turned to him for guidance.

Still, he could let me help.

I scowled at my page the entire lesson while Asuma smoked out the window and told us to shut up and do our work. The guys in the class suffering from an overload of testosterone wouldn't stop asking Haku and I _exactly_ what happened. Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru wouldn't stop giving me the disapproving look. Gaara looked to be almost bursting with the need to know how much damage I did. Haku didn't look at me. Shino and Hinata pointedly avoided me and held their own nervous conversation (sometimes I swore she and Kiba were the only ones with the ability of dragging more than five words out of that kid), and Sai was... well, Sai was Sai. And that Maths Girl was still that Maths Girl. And they still flirted. Inappropriately.

Finally the bell went and I could stop pretending to do work, grabbing my books and hurrying – no, I wasn't allowed to do that. I turned around just outside the door and waited impatiently for the other four to catch up, actually taking what Shisui said to heart.

I'd never seen him look so serious. He had to have had a decent reason behind it.

They gathered their books excruciatingly slowly, having their own conversation while Shikamaru was practically asleep on his feet. He'd probably been sleeping all class, the lazy shit. When they finally got to me (after _those_ guys tried to get answers out of me yet again and Haku walked past with that snobbish air of his), Sakura immediately gave me a disappointed look.

"Sasuke, why'd you do it?"

"He started it."

She raised both eyebrows as we all fell into step with one another. "Oh really?"

"Yes!" I turned to Neji. "Did you see it?"

He shook his head. "No, I was in the library doing research."

Ah. I turned back to Sakura. "Seriously. He did. Oh, and don't touch the back of my head."

Suddenly I stumbled on nothing, my vision going wobbly and making me see double before everything came back into focus and my head was throbbing at least a hundred times more painfully than before.

Gaara whistled, withdrawing his hand. "Wow, what'd she do to you?"

I took a deep breath through my teeth, closing my eyes tight and willing my head to stop spinning. "Threw me at a wall," I forced out.

Sakura put her arm through mine and led me down the hall, and I opened my eyes just in time to see her subtly trip Gaara up, his books going flying.

Only she would have the balls to do that.

Neji barely covered an amused snort as Gaara glowered silently, watching our retreating backs down the hallway, and bent down to help him gather his things.

Shikamaru followed Sakura and I with a loud yawn.

Ah, where would I be without my friends?

--

He was doing it again. He was ignoring me. I didn't exist again.

_I didn't get it_.

It was the first time I'd seen him since yesterday's cryptic 'forget it', and nothing had changed. He'd gone off with Kiba and everyone else, playing basketball. And yes, I mean everyone was playing basketball. Choji and Shino included. Even Ino.

I'd never understand how he did it.

I sat with Neji on the sidelines, watching Sakura beat everyone out of the way and shoot a ridiculous amount of goals while Gaara went to get a drink from the canteen. Even he'd played for a brief stint. Naruto had walked past us to the drink taps twice. He hadn't looked at me once. Neji was polite enough not to say anything.

Gaara, of course, didn't know the meaning of 'polite', and was apparently incredibly entertained by the fact that my head was giving me an awful lot of grief, judging by the way he tapped it hard just before he sat down with a huff.

"I don't even _have_ him today and he's still an arse!"

I smirked through my grimace of head-splitting pain, unable to say anything other than, "You deserve it, you bastard. That fucking _hurt_."

He just glared at me and ripped the lid off whatever energy drink he'd bought. Neji put a hand on his knee and said something too quiet to hear, but the answer was loud enough.

"I don't _care_ about being nice anymore! I just want to rip his eyes out! Is that really too much to ask?"

I stifled a laugh. "Probably, yeah."

"I could've meant _your_ eyes, you know," he muttered after taking a long drink.

I shrugged. "Yeah but you didn't. Whatever."

Gaara gave me an odd look before fixing his face back into a scowl, watching the basketball match with complete disinterest. "I will, you know. If they're still here next term then I will actually rip his eyes out. Or break every limb. Or maybe remove them. Maybe I'll –"

"Save us the details, please," Neji cut in.

I smirked when Gaara shut up immediately. I knew there was a good reason those two got together.

"They won't be," I said quietly.

They both turned to me briefly before returning their eyes to the game, watching Sai drop the ball as a girl in a particularly short skirt strutted past the court.

"I trust Shisui."

I could see Gaara's eyes widen out of the corner of my eye. "Had a change of heart, have we? I hope you're not going soft."

I shrugged. "No. I just... You wouldn't get it."

"Nope. Probably not. Then again, no one seems to get my 'kill them all' approach either."

"That's because that approach involves _murder_."

"Which is what they very nearly did to me and Sakura."

The silence stretched. Neji and I looked at each other as Gaara leaned forwards with his elbows on his knees, staring at the ground between his feet. Naruto got another goal just as the bell went, and Sakura came wandering over with Shikamaru by her side, both red in the face and breathing a little harshly.

They took one look at our grim faces and my pained expression before deciding that perhaps joining us wasn't such a great idea, and Sakura just held out a hand to help me up.

I took it after a moment's contemplation, wanting to say something to Gaara but knowing there was nothing I _could_ say, and so left it up to Neji to sort out and let Sakura pull me up gently. Once I was standing I stayed still for a moment, letting my head readjust to the new height, and began the walk to class without looking back.

I watched Naruto's back in front of me as he threw and arm around Choji's shoulders, pushing Ino when she tried to push him off. I smiled, but it was a sad one.

Today just wasn't going well at all.

Sakura let go of my hand tentatively once she was sure I was perfectly okay to walk, and Shikamaru asked, "What was he so moody about?"

"The pretty boy."

Sakura half-smiled. "They're both pretty, Sasuke."

"The pretty, destructive one."

"Ah, him. What did he do?"

"He didn't say. You know Gaara. Elaboration King."

Shikamaru snorted.

I felt a little more relaxed.

They stuck with me the whole way to the lockers and then to science, sitting next to me once the class had gone in. I guess my silence was thanks enough. I could've ranted about how depressed and crap I was suddenly feeling at the way Naruto was _still_ ignoring me and how Shisui had really gotten to me before, but I didn't want them to have to worry about me on top of everything else that was going on.

Everyone had a little too much on their plates at the moment.

So did Iruka, by the look of things.

The second he walked into the classroom I saw Naruto sit up a little straighter and tilt his head to the side. He was in the seat in front so I couldn't see his expression, but I didn't need to see to know he was doing that barely-concealed look of confusion. So something was wrong.

And it was obvious from the moment he dropped the stack of assignments he was returning to us. He dropped pens, forgot our names, spaced out for minutes at a time and mixed up everything he wrote on the whiteboard.

Kakashi wasn't much better, though he hid it a little better. I don't think anyone else in the class really noticed his spacing out as anything different from normal, but it was the pained look as he drifted off that clued us in, and the apologetic way he looked at us was a bit of a giveaway too. All four of us exchanged confused looks, and it was then that I realised they didn't know about Shisui and his meetings, and that was really the only logical connection I could draw from this sudden change in both teachers.

There was a meeting this morning, Shisui was finally being serious (scarily so), and Kakashi and Iruka were both nervous and worried.

Shisui told them something nasty. He must've. And the only thing nasty enough to upset Kakashi of all people would be Orochimaru and Deidara's pasts. Whatever the hell they were.

My suspicions were only confirmed when Shisui appeared out of nowhere, bursting into the class halfway through and practically abducting me. Kakashi just nodded after a half-second silent conversation between the two.

The sinking feeling in my gut only worsened; especially when Kakashi took Gaara, Neji, and Shikamaru out of the room after me.

"I'm taking him home," Shisui said once the door was shut, the rest of the class staring in wide-eyed confusion. I would be too, honestly. It was all a little sudden and strange.

Kakashi nodded as Sakura came around the corner, a note in her hand and a confused look on her face when she saw us all standing outside. "I guess you have to. I'll deal with these kids."

All four of us blinked stupidly, and Sakura sidled up to me. She tried to ask just what in hell was going on when Kakashi interrupted her and clapped his hands, saying with a grin visible in his one eye, "Okay! How does a walk to the science block sound? Brilliant? I thought so too, now let's – don't even _think_ about arguing, Sabaku."

And he lead them away to the area we'd just come from.

Sakura turned around and walked backwards for a moment, giving me a helpless look before Kakashi forced her to turn around.

What the...?

Shisui tried to grab my arm and steer me away, but I jerked it out of his grip and glared at him.

"If you could explain half of it before then you can explain it all now."

He returned the glare (so _that's_ how terrifying I look) and said, "We're going home. Now."

"Why?"

He leaned in close, hissing between his teeth. "Because what I'm going to tell you isn't safe for others to overhear."

I made a quiet 'oh' sound in realisation and followed with no more questions for once. Although, if it had been up to me I wouldn't have had to be led away because I would've known everything right from the get go. If it was up to me, none of this would've happened.

Neither of us said anything the entire way home, Shisui too caught up in his own thoughts and me in mine. I was trying to imagine what could be so horrible that it would upset my deadpan cousin _and_ Kakashi so much, but I knew that really, I wouldn't be able to. But I trusted Shisui's judgement, actually surprising myself a little at the sudden change of heart.

I wouldn't get anywhere if I didn't trust him and listen to him, just like it was pointless for Haku and I to completely hate each other (though sure, there was still a lot of that going around) when we were on the same side. The only sensible way to deal with this quickly and efficiently was to work together, and that meant I had to trust Shisui. As much as it drove me up the wall that he never seemed to want to tell me things, I had to be patient and wait for him to explain because I _knew_ he would.

Like now, I'd pushed and tried to blackmail him and bribe him countless times, using my general gift at being a smartarse to get him to tell me everything, but he wouldn't budge, and now he was spilling. It wouldn't have mattered what I'd done to get information out of him, he would tell me in his own time and _only_ in his own time.

It was in his own time, _now_, that he was going to explain everything, and I wasn't stupid enough to jeopardise that prospect. I was finally getting what I wanted, and even if he didn't want to give it, he was going to because he knew he really had to.

...And then my hopes were shattered.

Well, not quite, but pretty frustratingly close to it.

We were about a block from home when he suddenly rounded on me and put a firm hand on my shoulder, grimacing to himself as he cursed under his breath.

"Sorry, I'd completely forgotten. I promised to meet – a friend – in town for a while. I can't change my plans."

I gritted my teeth as the anger at him suddenly surged. "Why not?"

He really did look apologetic. He bloody well should. "Look, I just can't. You go on home and I'll be as quick as I can – I'll explain _everything_ as soon as I get back. I promise."

I dropped my voice to an angry, threatening hiss, knowing that it wouldn't affect him but would at least get my point across. Because 'angry' didn't quite cover it.

"You think you can take me out of class clearly with the intention of _finally_ explaining what the hell is going on, and then throw it back in my face like that? You _really_ think you can?"

I wrenched my arm out of his grip, blocking out his protests and stalked off in a huff. Quiet yet so obviously pissed off that he had to feel at least a _little_ bit guilty. Because really, what the _hell_? He was doing it all over again. Just when I thought it was there, he dangled it in front of my nose and yanked it away

_All. Over. Again._

_

* * *

_Please don't hate me. I promise I'll make up for it next chapter... -nervous-

Only four more to go! DX


	23. Hoshit

**KL Lover** is made of amazing for taking the time to beta this for me and make sure everything was consistent. -bows down-

I'M SO NERVOUS!! DX

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

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* * *

  
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23. HOSHT

There was a strange smell when I opened the door, and I heard things I probably shouldn't have.

Someone was in the kitchen and something was burning.

Oh God, they'd found us. They'd found _me_ and were burning the house down as a warning or something or oh Jesus fucking Christ what the hell was I supposed to do?!

I did the first thing I could think of and whipped my phone out to call Shisui, dashing forward to the kitchen where all the banging and crashing was coming from.

In the time it took for the call to connect and for Shisui to answer, I'd come to the kitchen and felt a lurching mix of utter horror and total relief.

"Sasuke?"

I narrowed my eyes. "False alarm." Hanging up the phone, I folded my arms over my chest. "Itachi, what are you doing?"

My brother, complete with an apron, whipped around to face me angrily, waving the wooden spoon at me. "_I_, brother, am baking a cake. Yes I am. And a damn good one at that, thank you very much."

I nodded slowly, backing out of the kitchen and out of the path of various rogue pieces of cake mixture.

"Don't you want to know _why_ I'm making a cake?"

I shook my head. "Uh, no? Not really."

He slammed a hand down on the bench, glaring at me, and practically shouted, "Because I'm _hurting_, Sasuke! I thought I'd finally be able to have lots of time with Kisame alone, thought I'd have a calm relaxing week before we start performing, have some bloody time to _ourselves_ for once, and what happens?"

He paused as if waiting for an answer, but kept going anyway as soon as I opened my mouth.

"His fucking _fish_ are more important than sex with me, that's what! He feeds his _fish_ instead of being with _me_. He cleans his _fish tank_ instead of being with _me_. He fucking _talks_ to his _fish_! Am I not interesting enough for him? Am I not good enough? Does he not _want_ me?"

Ah, crap.

I was gonna have a fun-filled night eating copious amount of chocolate with him in front of the television while trying to convince him that there was nothing wrong with him without mentioning the slight hiccup of being, oh, I don't know – _insane_.

"Look, Itachi, I'm sure he –"

"No! He's done it before and I am _not_ letting him get away with it again!"

"He probably –"

"Fish, Sasuke. _Fish_. Over _me_."

I nodded my head, acknowledging his point. "Yes, but –"

"Shut up and grab a spoon. I'm not in the mood for excuses."

"Uh, well I don't really –"

He took a step towards me, wooden spoon looking quite dangerous. "I said grab a spoon. We're baking a cake."

"But –"

"We're _baking_ a _cake_."

I hurried over to the drawer, pulling out a spoon. "Okay."

No way was I arguing with _those_ eyes.

The entire cooking time was filled with angry complaints and unnecessarily harsh treatment of cake mixture and the oven, and all I could do was nod and listen and do my best to sympathise while I kept him in check, ensuring he didn't suddenly go crazy eyes on me and leave me with a huge mess to deal with.

And the whole time, all I could think of at the back of my mind was that Shisui could walk in at any moment and everything could go to hell. I couldn't contact him because Itachi wouldn't let me out of his sight, and I was slowly getting more and more anxious as half an hour passed, then an hour, and I still hadn't told him not to come home.

My chance came when Itachi got a call from Kisame and disappeared into his room. The second his door had been slammed closed I fished out my phone and dashed to my room, picking his number out and waiting impatiently for him to answer as I kept one ear on the door in case Itachi ended the conversation sooner than expected.

"Sasuke, I can't really –"

"Don't come home. Information be damned, if you step one toe inside this house I might just have to kill you. Unless Itachi does. Either way, you're going to die. I'll call you when he's asleep."

There was a short silence. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Itachi came home early, just like I told you he would, so if you come home when he's in this state there's no telling _what_ might happen. It's better if you just stay out tonight. I don't care where."

"But –"

"Shisui, it's my turn to be serious. He's _insane_ and you're _dead_ to him. That's not a good combination, and it would put me under a whole lot less stress if you just didn't come home until he was dead asleep, then left at some ungodly hour of the morning. And lock your door. I'll make something up."

Another short silence before he sighed. "Okay, fine. If you say so, just wait up for me."

I nodded, not needing to ask why, said thanks, and hung up with an enormous sigh of relief. At least I could relax at least a little bit now.

I opened the door cautiously, narrowing my eyes suspiciously when I heard total silence from Itachi's room, and made my way nervously down the hall to see him sitting on the couch with his legs crossed beneath him and chewing his thumbnail.

I sighed to myself and padded over to him, sitting on the carpet beside the couch and looking up at him with a sad smile.

"It's okay, Itachi."

He sniffed. "Really?"

I nodded, feeling something that could be labelled as 'brotherly love' squeeze my chest. "Really. Now let's go have some cake."

* * *

I pushed Itachi up gently from my shoulder, smiling to myself despite the crap he'd put me through all night, and poked him in the shoulder.

"Hey, Itachi," I whispered, trying to wake him up nicely. "Time for bed, ne?"

"Mmphmmwurr no."

I snorted. "Come on, wake up. Get into bed and you can sleep there."

"Mmmno."

"Itachi..."

"Mmm..." he cracked one eye open a tiny bit to glare at me. "What?" he mumbled.

I nodded my head in the direction of his bedroom, nudging him with my shoulder. "Go on, into bed. It's late."

He cracked the other eye open and grumbled out, "Whas' time?"

I glanced at the wall. "Almost eleven thirty."

"Gaah... Mm'kay... in a min'," and closed his eyes again.

I shook my head, nudging him a little harder. "No, Itachi. Come on, up you get. I need to get to bed and so do you."

He tried to bat me away with his hand but I just narrowed my eyes at him, dodging it smoothly as I suddenly stood up and caused him to fall heavily to the floor. I'd conned him into not sitting on the couch, though leaning against it was bad enough.

"Up, you. Into bed."

He finally opened his eyes as best he could, scowling up at me for a good minute or so before finally heaving himself up with a huge groan, casting me grumpy looks and muttering under his breath, but at least he went.

I was getting tired and Shisui needed to come home.

"That's it, do you feel better now?"

Itachi just sent me another grumpy look and continued muttering under his breath, the perfect picture of a crazy man. Then I caught on that he was mumbling about fish and rolled my eyes. Okay, maybe he wasn't over it then. At least it was relatively safe to say he'd forget it all by the morning. His insanity was handy like that.

I followed him into the bedroom, still muttering, and waited until he was curled up under the covers before turning off the light.

"G'night," he snuffled with a face full of doona.

I laughed quietly and shook my head at him. As I returned the sentiment I felt my nerves slowly creep up. They steadily grew, as I closed the door and listened to my brother's soft breathing, and were making my palms a little sweaty as they took over once the snores from his room became loud and clear. It only took a couple of minutes.

With a deep breath I grabbed my phone and called Shisui, having to calm myself down all over again from the same nervous excitement earlier in the day.

He answered immediately and didn't even bother with greetings. "What convenient timing, I'm outside."

He hung up on me straight away, and I frowned down at the phone for a moment before pursing my lips in determination. I checked that the snores were still going loud and strong, turned off the hallway light and grabbed my jacket on the way outside, where sure enough, my cousin was sitting on the front steps with a very... _girly_ looking jacket.

It was... sort of – well – it was a bit pink.

I raised an eyebrow at him when I sat down. "Your friend was Tayuya, I'm guessing?"

He glared down at his jacket before directing his gaze back up to the house opposite.

"Hn."

I smirked. "I don't think I'm going to be able to take you seriously dressed like that."

"Well you won't let me inside."

"I could get a different one for you, you know."

"If it really bothers you that much."

I looked at it again, the pink still so visible in the dull light of the streetlamp and the faint glow from behind out curtains. "It bothers me that much," I assured him.

He sighed and took it off, and I ducked inside to grab Itachi's off the door.

That was better. I did well not to laugh, really.

"Now that I can take you seriously..." I gave him a pointed look and he sighed heavily into his hands.

"Sasuke, this... this is…"

I narrowed my eyes. "I told you I would decide for myself if I couldn't handle it, so just _tell_ me. There's no use keeping it from me if I'm already as involved as I'll ever be. We're in it together. It doesn't make sense to shut me out like you have been."

He sighed again. "For your safety," he muttered, and I rolled my eyes.

"Don't give me that crap again. It's a poor excuse and you know it."

He gave me a calculating look for an uncomfortable amount of time, and I just knew he was thinking about me and Sharingan. I was proven right when he spoke.

"As much as I'm going to regret saying this, you really would be excellent for Sharingan."

I nodded, taking the compliment in my stride. "Then perhaps you should stop trying to make me stay. You know it won't work."

He shook his head, but it wasn't to be negative, it was more in disbelief. "And they think I'm trying to make you _go_."

I laughed quietly. "Well then I guess there's no convincing needed. Now..."

He just kept looking at me for a moment. "You're _sure_ you want to know."

I glared back in determination. "Yes."

He blinked, nodded once, and I was finally going to hear what I'd been waiting for this entire time. I stared up at the sky as Shisui explained, and despite how long-winded it was, I don't think anything could have prepared me for it.

"We've been looking for Orochimaru for a few years. I wasn't part of the investigation or anything that involved him, but I haven't been let into the company for nothing. I'm good at sneaking around." He paused, faltering for a moment before saying, "How about I start from the beginninf?"

We both took a deep breath.

"Akatsuki is like a gang, but at the same time they're not. They lure people, that share the same sick interest or seem particularly vulnerable, in and they – they use them. Your brother, unfortunately, got sucked in. He's always had a love for the theatre, and our guess it that the pressure from your parents and the company finally brought him to breaking point and he just cracked. He wanted to do what he wanted to do, there was no way in hell any of us could stop him, and that was before he cracked. He was already thinking about joining long before then.

"We thought the Akatsuki really was just a performing arts company at first, but rumours spread and Itachi's insane ramblings to me over time led us to think it was a lot more. People started going missing when we, well, when your father, pried too much and anyone sent in there to check it out never came back. Then I met Kisame one day and I knew something wasn't right. I went to a show and realised that _nothing_ was right. Your father told me to stay out of it and started giving me so many assignments that I wouldn't have had the time to research anything even if I'd wanted to."

There was a short silence, and I forced my voice to be steady as I asked, "Then why did you relocate and leave me behind if something was happening?"

Shisui shrugged. "Your father couldn't handle the embarrassment of his son leaving for a theatre company. It undermined his power and made the business, and everyone involved, vulnerable. If he couldn't control his son then how could he control his employees? As soon as Itachi was diagnosed, we left. You were..." he turned to me briefly. "Do you remember?"

I paused a moment, trying to think back. "Yeah... I think so... I didn't want to go."

Shisui laughed silently. "That's a bit of an understatement. You weren't there when Itachi lost it; you didn't see what he did." Suddenly he pulled the collar of his jacket and shirt aside, revealing the top of a think, silvery-white scar that reflected in the moonlight.

I'd never seen it before.

"He got me with a kitchen knife just before you came home. You only saw him being restrained."

I swallowed thickly. "I didn't know what was going on..."

Shisui shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You were adamant about staying with your brother and there was nothing we could do. You wouldn't hear of it whenever we said we were going – absolutely _refused_ to budge. They gave in and left, promising to come back. You don't know this, but I stayed behind for a few months to make sure you guys were okay with each other. He seemed to really look after you, and you learned fast. So we figured you would be better off continuing your life here until the time came – now – for you to take up Sharingan."

There was another silence as I turned it all over in my head. I was almost surprised at how well I was taking it so far, but then again, we hadn't even touched on the real reason he was here.

"But –"

"I'm getting there, Sasuke. While I'm telling you part of it I might as well tell you absolutely everything. If you really are as determined to go as you say, then you have to know the history. You won't get answers from your father and your mother is too frightened of your brother to mention him. Listen to it now and it'll save you a lot of trouble later."

I nodded, folding my arms and resting them on my knees as he continued.

"But it's all a little complicated. Sorry if I jump around and don't make sense." He put a hand to his forehead, leaning against it heavily. "_Before_ he went insane, he wouldn't shut up about the Akatsuki. All he wanted to do was join. Your father took offence, naturally, and only pressured him more. _Then_ he cracked and _then_ we left. It was in the time that I stayed behind and looked out for you that I went to a performance and got suspicious, but it wasn't anything concrete to go by – just a feeling, you know? Itachi recognised me afterwards and we went with Kisame back to your place. I'm pretty sure they were just friends then. That was the last time since before these past holidays that I saw you. You probably don't remember."

"Which would be why I didn't recognise you at the airport."

He pursed his lips. "Indeed."

"So... what...?"

"What clued us in about the Akatsuki?"

I nodded.

"Itachi let something slip. He said Kisame hadn't always looked like that, and that – I can't remember. Like I said, it was nothing concrete. I told Tōsan but he didn't want to talk about it. It still hurt him that Itachi had left – you know how much faith he'd put in him. But I overheard a couple of meetings I shouldn't have during the time he gave me a million and one assignments to keep me occupied, and it didn't take much to piece it together. He hated the Akatsuki for turning Itachi against him. Absolutely _hated_ them. We, your mother and I, didn't see him for months on end when he buried himself in records and reports. People were sent out and when I wanted them for my own missions he wouldn't tell me where they'd gone. It was a mess. _He_ was a mess."

Well... that put things into a new perspective, didn't it? I frowned at my jean-clad knees, not quite sure what to think of that new take on things. I wanted to do several things at once. Kick Kisame's arse into the next millennium for starters.

But...

"Where does Orochimaru fit into it all?"

Shisui exhaled heavily, trying to sort out his words. I almost held my breath.

"He... I'm not too sure. I didn't understand a lot of your father's notes, but from what I could gather, he worked closely with Itachi for a while before something went on with Sasori, and I think he was the one who put the idea into his head to join them. He was the one bringing new people in and determining how they would be used. He knew we were onto him right from the start – I'm surprised he didn't recognise me at school, especially after Kabuto conveniently 'went missing'. Then again, he's never actually _seen_ any of us. But sometimes men wouldn't come back. I don't know if they're alive or if they've been forced to join thanks to him, and I almost don't _want_ to know."

I frowned deeper, moving my arm to my side and tapping the ground with a forefinger. "Shisui, that doesn't _explain_ anything. I get it – Sharingan and Akatsuki have a history, but you're not explaining anything. Tell me what you've found out since I asked you to research Orochimaru, and don't skirt around the gory details. I haven't even bothered trying to figure it out myself because I know that there's no way in hell I'd be able to, so it's not like I think this is going to be small scale. I know you're going to tell me, so there's no point prolonging it."

My cousin drew in a sharp breath and stared at me for the longest time, the shadows giving his dead expression an eerie look. I didn't try to figure out what he was thinking. I didn't want to.

"I want you to promise me you'll be sensible and keep this to yourself. Your other friends have no doubt been filled in already, obviously not to this extent, but have been instructed to keep their mouths shut. I trust you will do the same."

"Shisui, there's no one for me to tell that doesn't know already. I _do_ know how serious this is. All that crap you just said proves that."

He only stared harder, teeth worrying his bottom lip in a rare, open display of hesitancy, and drew in a breath to speak.

"Orochimaru takes part in illegal human experimentation. He alters the appearance and biological make-up of the human body to suit what they need for performances. Kisame didn't always look like that. Orochimaru didn't always look like that. Sasori and Deidara are much older than they appear, and have you noticed Deidara's eye patch? After the experiments are done, he's the one who deals with them, as such. He's in charge of disposing of the tampered bodies so no one finds them. He destroys all evidence, destroys _them_."

He paused to let the words sink in.

They didn't.

"Orochimaru isn't at all well-liked within the Akatsuki, he's not even the leader as much as he likes to think he is, but he's the only one with this twisted knowledge so they had no choice but to keep him."

Another pause.

I waited for my brain to catch up, but it couldn't quite make it. There was nothing I could say to that. My thought processes had stopped entirely, replaying everything Shisui had just said over and over. I couldn't think straight.

I could _never_ have prepared myself for that.

Somehow, I don't _know_ how, I managed to force out, "... 'Had'?"

"I've been keeping tabs on them since I was last here. You should already know who I have helping me."

I nodded, my brain supplying the name instantly. Tayuya.

Shisui sighed. "A while back, the Akatsuki lost its loyal followers. Business started to slip. Their money supply from underground dirty work and dealings began to dwindle. That's when you were all brought into the picture. Everyone was forced to get second jobs, not only to support themselves, but also to find 'new talent', as such."

"And that's when he chose me..." I murmured, but too quietly for Shisui to hear.

"That's when he chose you," Shisui confirmed. I didn't even bother asking how he knew. "It's not secret among the Akatsuki members about Orochimaru's – well..."

"Knack for paedophilia?" I supplied dryly.

"Well, yes, to be blunt. But you're Itachi's brother, and not everyone agreed with that. Everyone knew that Orochimaru could do whatever he wanted, both in the school because of Tsunade and in the company because of his talent. Everyone had to keep their mouths shut. But then... then Zabuza slipped up, _Orochimaru_ slipped up, and that's where it all gets a bit hectic.

"While you lot were only trying to find a way to get them out of your lives, this whole long-winded history was stirred up again, and a couple of people in the company spoke up. Our friend with the foul language was kind enough to explain the political dealings within the company, but I'll spare you the boring recital. In short, no one wants Orochimaru around anymore. He's been underhandedly running the show and creating divisions. He messed everything up. Sasori and Deidara left; cut all ties with him and the company, and in this last week Tobi and Pein have reinforced their leadership and booted him out. _That's_ how it's like a gang. They band together with the same underhanded intentions and if one person jeopardises that – they're out or dead. Orochimaru was just lucky. I'm guessing Sasori and Deidara messed up one too many times as well, because usually there's a 'once you're in, you're in for life' policy, and the only reason I can find behind why it was so easy for them to leave was their mistake of messing with your two friends at the hospital. Looking back on the reports made me realise that it was around that time that Tōsan _really_ start to withdraw, and I think that's when things began to get serious for Sharingan. Tōsan was more determined than ever to bring them down for taking his son and destroying all hopes for his company, and they'd accidentally made it easier for him by being too public." He waved his hand. "Anyway, that's a grey area that I'm not particularly clear on."

I blinked slowly.

The silence stretched.

I got to my feet quietly and muttered, "Get inside, stay quiet and leave as early as you can. I... I don't know. I need to – need to think."

Shisui just looked up at me for a moment, carefully calculating, but I couldn't meet his eyes.

I didn't know what to make of it, didn't know what I _could_ make of it.

Then he slowly followed my lead and stood up with a quiet rustle of clothing. He paused his way inside and said quietly, "I trust you, Sasuke. I trust you to be careful. He _wants_ you, and I don't need you getting hurt unnecessarily."

* * *

I brushed my teeth and got changed at some point, and somehow I ended up in bed. I don't know when. I can't remember. I wasn't thinking in full sentences. All I knew was that it was almost one a.m. and I wasn't going to sleep tonight. I had class with Orochimaru tomorrow, and I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't know if I could handle it.

I didn't know anything at the moment, I wasn't sure about anything.

'Wow' really didn't quite cover it. Neither did a very long list of expletives. Nor did another very long list of adjectives for 'surprised' or 'shocked'.

Nothing covered it.

Nothing covered the sick feeling in my stomach as I stared up at the ceiling, eyes unable to concentrate long enough to follow the cracks as I so often did when I was thinking. Nothing was sinking in.

And at the end of it all was total fear. Fear for what Orochimaru would do to me, would do to Naruto, _had_ done to the members of the Akatsuki members. But most of all it was a fear for Itachi. Because Itachi was _in_ there. He worked with them on a daily basis and it was only a matter of time before something happened to him as well. Or maybe something already _had_ happened and I didn't notice. Maybe I was too caught up in Naruto or this Orochimaru business to even realise that obviously there was something up with the Akatsuki, so why wouldn't my brother be in danger?

I wanted to go into his room and wake him up; demand to know what they'd done to him, if anything. But I knew I wouldn't. I wouldn't because I'd promised Shisui that I knew this was a secret and it would remain so.

A sick and twisted secret, but a secret all the same.

And how many people had they tortured? How many people had they tampered with? Was anyone in Akatsuki who they said they were? How did they get away with it?

_Why hadn't Father done anything sooner?_

If he knew this was happening then why in God's name didn't he _do_ anything?

I pushed the heels of my palms into my eyes.

This wasn't about Naruto. This was so far from being about Naruto it was painful. He was just a play-thing on the side to Orochimaru; he had nothing to do with the bigger picture. All he was was the push in the right direction. He was what triggered this, and while he was part of my original aim, I don't even _know_ what my aim is anymore.

Everything had been thrown up in the air, just when I thought it was under control.

But maybe it was under control and I was overreacting?

I almost snorted to myself.

If anything I was _under_ reacting, if that even made sense.

I should've been shouting and yelling and cursing and creating a commotion at the shock and horror of it all, of finding out that my brother was involved with sick freaks who liked to experiment on humans, turn them into puppets from time to time, then somehow find out ways to destroy them with absolutely _no_ evidence, something that even stumped my father.

But here I was, lying on my back quite comfortably in bed, staring at the back of my eyelids and not moving a muscle. Perfectly composed and decidedly _not_ freaking out.

Sometimes I disgusted myself.

But what could I do, really?

Nothing.

There was _nothing_ I could do because there was no _way_ I was messing with them. I thought Orochimaru was just a childish, possessive freak, and while yes, he most certainly _was_ that, he was also a freak who liked to mess with pretty young things and manipulate them however he wanted. And by 'manipulate' you know I don't mean emotionally or mentally.

I felt a lurching in my gut.

Physical manipulation. Altering our very structure. Turning us into things just for a _show_.

I sat up, my head spinning a little as I breathed faster and harder.

I couldn't take it.

My brother was in so much danger of being screwed with permanently, my boyfriend (because I guess he still technically was such) was getting molested frequently by someone I no longer had the balls to stand up to, and his only way out of it was being blackmailed.

I bit my lip, hard enough to draw blood as I fought the urge to scream.

I couldn't – I just couldn't – couldn't _what_, I don't know. I couldn't think about it without feeling the need to throw up, I couldn't let my imagination run away with me because that only ever made it worse, I couldn't let them get away with it but at the same time I couldn't do anything to _stop_ them, and I couldn't... I couldn't think straight.

I couldn't sleep.

I couldn't make sense of it.

I couldn't breathe properly.

I couldn't stop shaking.

_I couldn't do this_.

I stood up suddenly, throwing the covers back and throwing a zip-up jacket over my bare torso to hold back the winter chill, and wrenched open my closet. I gritted my teeth as I rummaged around at the bottom, sifting through piles of old junk until I found what I was looking for.

Two large travel bags.

I threw them on my bed, forcing myself not to think about what I was doing and just _do it_.

I opened up my large chest of drawers first, putting all my underwear and socks into the first of the black bags neatly in a corner, making sure to leave out a few spares, because there was nothing more annoying than packing all your clothes early and needing something to wear the day before.

Then I moved to the next drawer down and sifted through my t-shirts, putting all the ones I hadn't worn for several years in a pile on the floor and folding all the ones I did wear neatly into a separate pile, adding them to my bag and leaving a couple out like before.

I moved from item to item, opening drawers with jumpers and jeans and cupboards with coats and my dress clothes. Everything went in the bags, all in their separate neat piles, one on top of the other, all in order.

Perfect order.

Before I knew it, it was almost four a.m.

I got a text from Sakura soon after.

**I can't sleep.**

I blinked at it for a moment, feeling my heart twist a little. Every message she'd ever sent me had a smiley face of some kind, the little '^^' or '.' symbol. She always had a little happy sign off. She either said she loved me or hated me, but it was always something. It was never blank.

I didn't know what to think or how to reply, so I shut my phone and closed my eyes as I threw it back on my bed.

I didn't want to think.

I didn't want to think about how helpless we all were in this, the others even more so than me because they didn't have a cousin with a sea of information and assassins at his feet.

I moved on to my desk.

Opening up the top drawer, I found so many random objects that would've meant nothing to everyone else but meant so much to me. There were scrawled notes from Shikamaru in class, going all the way back to one I swore was from year seven.

But I set my jaw and ignored them, taking out my iPod and phone charger, the only essentials in there, and closed the drawer with a slam.

A sunlit morning rolled around eventually, and it felt weird to have a shower and change into clothes for school when I'd never actually slept. I hadn't even had a nap when Itachi had made me watch horrible sappy movies what felt like days ago now.

Two bags sat by my bedroom door when I left for school at quarter past eight, filled to the brim and threatening to burst the zips.

We were silent in English. Kakashi couldn't be bothered so he put a movie on for us, but he forgot to turn on the subtitles. No one paid attention. Or maybe they did and I just missed it.

I still felt I was lacking in some sort of reaction, because Gaara and Neji seemed relatively okay and Shikamaru was his usual lazy self. Sakura couldn't lift her eyes from the table, though.

And it hurt that Naruto was still ignoring me. It hurt more than yesterday, because until now I hadn't understood the serious danger I was putting myself in for him. Had _accidentally_ put myself in for him – and he had no idea.

He was talking to Lee animatedly throughout the entire movie, and Kakashi didn't tell him to shut up. He just buried his nose in his book, but his eyes weren't moving. I could tell he was miles away, and it wasn't hard to guess exactly where.

But he was probably thinking about tactics and plans to finally catch them, to help Shisui and whoever he was bringing with him from Sharingan now that Tōsan had finally let him have the case, considering he was getting nowhere.

He was stressing over _how_ he was going to do it, while I was stressing over not being _able_ to do anything.

How was that fair?

At some point during recess I'm sure I had a conversation with Tenten, but for the life of me I don't know what about. I do know that I saw Naruto and Haku in deep conversation though, and it made my gut twist uncomfortably because I didn't know what to make of it. I didn't know what Haku knew and I knew that it was pointless to go up to them. I'd made a half-agreement with Haku that we would at least try to get along, and Naruto would pretend I wasn't there.

And that only made me wonder if I could mention anything to Haku, that maybe I could warn him in case he didn't know, but my unspoken promise to Shisui rang in my head and I had to turn away.

Maths was much the same as English, except Asuma didn't even try to teach. So there was nothing different, really. Asuma hung out the window with a cigarette, Gaara and Neji sat at the back and either did their work or pretended to, Sai chatted up that girl (he was relentless, really), Hinata and Shino did their work quietly and quickly, finishing early as usual, Shikamaru slept, Haku glared at his page, and Sakura sat next to me blankly.

She tried to go home with the excuse that she felt sick at one point, but I didn't want her to. I put a hand on her arm and gave her a look, I'm not sure what kind of look, but she must've gotten the message because she put her hand down and stared at her hands again.

If no one else was affected apart from us, then I didn't want to be the only one.

Because I was supposed to be the strong one here. Gaara didn't let anything affect him, Neji was reasonable about everything, Shikamaru always kept his feelings to himself, and Sakura was always wearing her heart on her sleeve. I was always calculating. I was always analysing.

And now I was blank and distant and, worst of all, confused out of my mind while everyone remained true to their standard responses.

It made me uncomfortable.

We all sat together at lunch, but no one spoke about it. Gaara and Neji were talking to Tenten and Lee and actually looking like they were enjoying it. Shikamaru was watching Naruto and Choji have an eating competition with mild amusement. Sakura was almost confiscated from us by Ino and Tenten, but she fought them off with a stammered excuse and sat next to me.

No one even bothered _trying_ to get conversation out of me. One look told them it was beyond useless. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. I suppose it was, because I still didn't think my mind was working in full sentences and it basically revolved around Itachi.

But then the bell went and Naruto actually looked at me. Only for a split second, but he still did, and it made my stomach flip uncomfortably as I thought about just what our next lesson was.

Last lesson had been nothing short of a failure, and now I had _this_ added on top of it all.

And I started getting nervous.

Sakura gripped my arm as I stood up and began to make my way over to the drama room, and I stopped walking to look at her.

She shook her head at me.

"Sakura, we have to."

"No. I don't want to."

"Neither do I."

Then Neji appeared beside her and put a hand on the small of her back, gently pushing her forwards and urging her to walk with us. Gaara walked on Neji's other side with hesitant steps, and I felt a rush of thanks as Shikamaru patted her on the shoulder before continuing on to his own class alone.

Neji let go of Sakura when Gaara had to turn off to go to ceramics, and Sakura and I let them be. Gaara would have to deal with this on his own somehow, because Deidara was his problem. I was just thankful Sakura didn't have Sasori for any classes, because I think, now that we had more of a history (at least _I_ did) on them, Sasori's 'hobbies' as Kakashi put it, seemed to have a lot more meaning. It was like we hadn't believed it until now and suddenly gravity caught up with us and it was a painful shock.

It seemed that Naruto hadn't meant to acknowledge me before and was now trying to make up for his slip, because as soon as we reached the crowd outside the classroom he turned his back and had a lively conversation with Kiba, who I noticed was looking at me nervously from time to time.

Apparently I was that obvious.

And when Orochimaru came sweeping through, Kiba's look of confusion at my reaction was proof of just how obvious I was. Sakura and I both visibly recoiled, and Neji, having returned after making Gaara promise not to maim anyone, winced and turned away.

Oh yes, gravity had definitely caught up with us.

It took all of our strength to walk into that class room, and even more from me to watch them go and not follow as I was left alone with Naruto and Orochimaru once again, though it did look like they struggled with themselves before filing out with the rest of the class. They definitely faltered, and they definitely looked unhappy.

Orochimaru smiled at us both in that sickening, twisted way of his that had me taking a tiny step backwards.

"I hope we've cleared up all our issues, yes?"

Naruto shrugged. "More or less."

Orochimaru leered at me. "_You_ don't look particularly well today, Sasuke. I do hope you're not coming down with something. That would be quite a blow to our plans for tomorrow, wouldn't it?"

I clenched my jaw and gave the best nod I could. It was stiff and jerky, a quick, almost imperceptible tilt of the head before I was trying to control my breathing again.

And Naruto had no idea.

I wasn't concentrating, and I realised that I hadn't gotten out of the mindset from last night yet. I was running on no sleep and a whole lot of stress; my mind almost on a high from information overload and it was trying to sort out what to do with a million things at once while coping with the realisation that there was nothing I _could_ do. It couldn't have been healthy.

Everything was passing by in a blur. Everything from the moment Shisui had stood up to go back inside and hide from Itachi – everything from that moment hadn't registered properly. I'd been awake for over twenty-four hours, and the last twelve had somehow been passed in a daze, my aimless wandering and general sheep-like behaviour passing the time as I ran on autopilot, letting my mind do whatever it wanted.

But I was still blank. I couldn't remember my lines, I was spacing out, and every time Orochimaru opened his mouth I wanted to throw up.

I looked at him and all I could see was him looming above me, above Naruto, above my brother, that disgusting grimace in place and a scalpel in hand. I had no idea how he went about what he did, but Shisui's words of 'Orochimaru didn't always look like that' had my imagination running wild.

It concocted all these insane questions like whose skin was he wearing, then? Was that his real eye colour? Was that his hair, even though it was definitely real? What about his hands, his teeth – _any_ part of him? Was it his or was it some poor victim's he'd used and Deidara had disposed of, or Sasori had stolen and turned the remaining parts into a puppet?

I didn't want to think about it, but the most horrible images were coming to mind and I couldn't stop them. It was like when Itachi went crazy eyes on me and made my mind run like a projector, forcing so many _fake images_ into my mind.

There was only so much I could handle, and eventually I stood up, the chair crashing to the floor behind me as my palms slammed flat on the table.

Naruto put a hand on my shoulder, and be it automatic or not, it nearly broke me.

"I can't – I can't do this," I choked.

Too many things could go wrong. Too many people were in danger. Too many people had already been taken by them, disappeared without any clues. I didn't want to be just another figure. I didn't want to be used. I didn't want him to touch my brother, to change him as he saw fit.

I looked up at Naruto.

I couldn't let him be hurt either. Not more than he already has been.

Orochimaru was deathly quiet as he sidled up to us, his loose pants swishing – and I never thought a sound could be so... so _ominous_.

He lowered his head down to our level, getting right in my face as he smiled. "Is something wrong, Sasuke?"

Naruto's hand tightened painfully.

I swallowed, willing my stomach to keep my lunch _in_side as I shook my head the tiniest bit.

"Then why are you both just as terrible as you were on Monday? I thought I told you to sort out your problems. It really doesn't matter who kissed whose boyfriend," he added with a sly smirk, his eyes dropping to Naruto's lips as he said it.

I closed my eyes, partly against the force with which Naruto was gripping my shoulder, and partly because I had an animalistic, overwhelming _need_ to rip his face off.

"Shut up," I whispered.

There was a brief silence, and I still didn't open my eyes. I couldn't look at him.

The surprised amusement was clear in his voice as he said, "Excuse me?"

I gritted my teeth. "I said shut up. Shut up before I throw up."

"Well if you were sick you should've said something. Perhaps you should go to the first aid office, hm? Have a lie down. I can take you there."

I was going to do it. Kill him or throw up, I didn't care which. I couldn't stay here any longer.

I took a deep breath through my nose and opened my eyes suddenly, glaring at him and refusing to let anything other than pure disgust and hatred into my expression as I spat, "Don't touch me, don't touch Naruto, and if you put a fucking _finger_ on my brother I will rip your balls off and feed them to you."

I saw his fists clench and unclench from where they were resting on the desktop as he leant over us, and the muscles in his jaw were twitching with the effort it took to restrain himself. From raping me or killing me I had no idea, but neither option sounded fun.

"I don't know what you're talking ab-"

"Shut it, you sick _fuck_. You can't save yourself. You know it's falling apart, so get the _fuck_ away from me, away from Naruto, and away from my brother. Stop scrounging for a way to get back to your pathetic friends because they _don't want you_."

The hand at my throat came far too quick for me to register, but Naruto must've seen it coming because he pushed it away and followed up with a solid _crack_ to Orochimaru's jaw, sending him staggering backwards. He jerked me around by the hand on my shoulder and I stumbled after him, out of the room and into the fresh air.

I took enormous gulps of it, fighting a steadily losing battle with my stomach.

I hadn't felt this way since... No, I'd never felt this way. Ever.

Not even when Naruto had first told me exactly what Orochimaru did to him. Not even when my brother had gone so insane he'd made me run away. Not even when my father tried to rip my life out from under me.

Never.

It was consuming, this need to scream and break things, to downright _kill_ someone, to be sick, to cry - and I wasn't accustomed to it.

Maybe it's what Itachi felt like when he turned psycho on me. Maybe it's what Gaara felt like most of the time. Maybe it's how my father felt when Itachi ran away from the family and turned on us all. Maybe it's how Kakashi and Iruka feel right now, and my cousin. Maybe it's how Sakura feels, only minus the killing and a bit more of the crying.

Naruto sat on the garden wall opposite me, leaning forwards with his elbows on his knees and not saying a word, because maybe it's how he felt when Tsunade refused to believe him.

I breathed heavily, finally feeling my stomach settle down a little, and leaned my head back against the cool brick wall, waiting for my mind to stop buzzing. I had to calm down. I'd had my reaction. I'd snapped for a moment, and now I had to be rational again. Now I had to live up to my name and _think_. But I couldn't do that while Orochimaru was only a wall away, Deidara was a couple of rooms away, and Sasori was up a flight of steps and a little to the left.

I heard Naruto call my name softly, and quiet footsteps pad towards me. I felt a hand rest at my waist and a head lean on my shoulder. My arms rose automatically and wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him close and kissing the top of his head.

But I only opened my eyes when a door a couple of classrooms down slammed closed violently, and a familiar voice screamed out a curse at the top of his lungs.

Naruto stepped away from me a little awkwardly as Gaara turned to us, one hand gripping his short hair tightly while the smirk on his lips belied his obvious anger.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have asked him if he was lacking in dead bodies to maim."

* * *

I'M STILL SO NERVOUS! -tears hair out-

WAS THIS MADE OF FAIL OR WAS IT OKAY? WHAT HAVE I DONE? KJSDFSVBITUH AGH! DDDDDDDDX -spasticflail-

On a lighter note, I finished all my assessments today ^^ Two exams now and then I am finito... for a week...


	24. The Ho Down Show Down

I am apologising in advance for this story's serious over-enthusiasm and general air of sheeranduttercrazyshitwhoa!

This chapter is an absolute monster and took me _forever_ to write. It was originally about four pages longer than this, and I just didn't have the heart to cut anything else out. I tried, really, I spent at least four hours cutting things out and rewriting bits, but... Blergh. If you get a little, you know, _bored_, skip down to about halfway. That's where the fun starts, and that's what all this crap beforehand is leading up to. I'm sorry, but it had to be in there, if only for me and my failure to make sense of my own storyline.

Gaaaaah.

Also... this seriously awesome chapter title is totally kudos to my equally awesome beta **KL Lover**. Hell yeah!

Ooooh also also! **Hilarious Tragedy**, WE ARE SO AMAZING FOR FINISHING EXAMS! WOOOOOOO! HIGH FIVE! -spastic excited dance- XD

and also also also: Biology is fail. Forever and always.

**Previous disclaimers apply**.

* * *

24. THE HO-DOWN SHOW-DOWN

I actually slept last night, at least for a little while, after I'd gotten used to that god awful pain throbbing at the back of my skull - but once Shisui woke me up on his way out at some ungodly hour of the morning, there was no hope for me. I was awake and staring again, my mind refreshed from its brief respite, and the same process as yesterday started all over again.

But at least _this_ morning's monotony was broken up by Itachi.

I'd gotten to the kitchen at some point after my shower, and was chewing my toast when in he stumbled, bleary-eyed, scruffy-haired and shirtless. He gave a half-arsed "Ohaiyou" through an enormous yawn, scratching the back of his head as he flicked the kettle on, and turned to me with an innocently curious look.

"Did you have anyone over last night?

I swallowed my mouthful of toast a little too fast and shook my head. "No – why?"

He shrugged, folding his arms and leaning back leisurely against the bench top. "Huh. I swore I heard someone leave this morning..."

I cleared my throat, getting to my feet. "Must've been dreaming." The plate hit the sink with a dull clunk of finality. "I'm going."

He raised an eyebrow as the kettle began to whistle quietly. "Like that?"

I nodded, knowing full well that I looked like crap. "Yes, like this." I talked over my shoulder as I made my way to the front door, scooping up my bag. "I won't be back till around five, and I have to leave straight away because I've got that – play... thing, tonight. If I'm late I'm dead."

The kettle began to screech loudly and Itachi came around the corner, now resting tiredly against the hallway wall and keeping his arms crossed. "Why so late?"

I sighed, inwardly wincing as I stepped into my shoes. "I have stuff to do." Which was true… sort of.

He frowned. "Sasuke..."

I blew my fringe out of my eyes in the following awkward silence, willing myself not to care. If he was an arsehole about it I could brush him off, and if he was bouncing off the walls and pestering me non-stop it was easy enough to change the subject. It was when he was painfully caring or acting like a parent that I found it hard to avoid an accusation as plain as that one.

"Tell me the truth."

I glared at the look in his eyes. "You already know."

Itachi tilted his head in almost guilty acknowledgement at the same time as shrugging his shoulders. The kettle shut off with a resounding click. "I got a call from your school, yes, and that bruise on your cheek is more obvious than you think."

I clenched my teeth, reminding myself that it was standard school procedure and they weren't going to make an exception just because I didn't want my brother to worry about me. He had enough to worry about. I tried not to think of Orochimaru.

Itachi sighed at my defiant silence. "You're above that, Sasuke. Promise me – no, promise _yourself_ that it won't happen again."

I blinked. "I can't..."

His eyes narrowed and he suddenly looked a whole lot like Father. "Just because you're stressed about changing schools doesn't mean you can take it out on innocent bystanders."

I snorted almost silently. 'Innocent bystander' my arse. I shifted my weight to the other foot and hoisted my bag into a more comfortable position on my shoulder. "He started it," I said childishly.

"I don't care who started it. It won't happen again. You know you're better than that."

"But –"

"Sasuke, look – everything will be _fine_."

I balled my fists at my sides, knowing that it _wouldn't_ be fine, as far as possible from it, but I couldn't tell him that.

Ignoring the kettle waiting for him, Itachi took the steps necessary to reach me and put a hand on my shoulder. I didn't look at him. He would pick up my total fear in a heartbeat, and telling myself that no one was in any more danger now than they were three days ago wouldn't have changed how I felt. Because now I _knew_ the danger, my brother had been brought into the picture, and everything got a whole lot worse when you knew the entire truth.

"You will go and do what you want to somewhere that can push you like you need to be pushed, I will stay here with Kisame, and I'll see to it that at least one of your friends goes to visit you every holiday. Or I'll kill them."

I bit back a chuckle.

"Well if they're not visiting then it's no difference to you, right? I can have a little fun, can't I?"

I rolled my eyes, knowing for certain that he was joking when I gave him permission to kill my friends if the need arose.

He grinned evilly. "Excellent." A short pause. "And... don't worry about Naruto. If it's meant to work out then it will, but don't push it. If you have to leave him behind for good then so be it. You're young; this isn't the be all and end all."

And before I had a chance to respond, he'd belted me in the forehead with his index and middle finger with a "Don't _stress_," and kicked me out the door with an "It'll be _fine_."

And I smiled despite myself.

--

Today passed in much the same way as yesterday, really. I was withdrawn, and everything passed by in a blur of indifference. All that really mattered was what was going on in my mind, and this time instead of worrying about whether or not we were going to be... 'tampered with' – well okay, there was still a little (a lot) of that – I was apprehensive about what was going to happen tonight and had to deal with another dose of confusion regarding Naruto.

Everything was a blur and at recess it just got messy because Naruto was _there_ and that – that _whatever_ that happened yesterday refused to get out of my mind. I suddenly found it really hard to ignore what my mind was screaming at me to do. In short; I wanted him; really wanted him. And it wasn't like it was even in an 'I will ravish you' kind of way, which I might have been able to deal with. It was in a horribly corny 'I just want _you_' way.

The feeling hadn't gone away since I'd snapped yesterday and he _whatever_ed. He acted like nothing happened after class and we were heading up to the lockers, which meant I thought about nothing else all through detention. Even in light of everything that was happening around us, Naruto was always just _there_, nagging at the back of my mind when everything else got too much, and at the forefront of it the rest of the time.

And it was this all-consuming _need_ to be near him that it made me _so angry_. Angry simply at the fact that it was happening, that he could pick me up and drop me so easily without a care in the world, and that I could be this _affected_ by it.

So what would happen tonight? What would happen, when our last few practices had been nothing short of a disaster and we couldn't even look each other in the eye? Did it even _matter_? I would be leaving in a few days anyway. I'd packed my stuff. All that was left was the plane ticket – which would arrive today, according to Shisui. So what did it matter when I would just have to leave him again?

I'd been asking myself that since the fight started, and I was yet to come up with an answer apart from 'hell _yes_ it matters, damnit!', because even though a large part of me totally agreed with that, another part (the logical, Shikamaru side of things) definitely didn't.

But maybe I was overreacting and everything really would be fine, just like Itachi had said. It had never proven wise to listen to the ramblings of an insane man, but maybe just this once he would prove himself right, and everything that was meant to be sorted out will be sorted out.

I didn't like putting this down to fate – that was Neji's job, and he had enough belief in it for ten men.

If I wanted something to happen that regarded _me_, then _I_ would be the one to decide. I was _not_ going to sit back and see how it all panned out in the end – I would fight for it. Itachi's insane (and regretfully logical) ramblings be damned, I _wanted_ him and I was going to push however the hell much I needed to make him see that I _was_ still here and I _did_ still exist.

... That thought process made me feel a little funny.

I wasn't so sure it was a bad funny.

That funny feeling didn't let up all day, not even in metalwork and we were sitting in a frozen sort of silence as Sasori gave us the most eerie looks from the front desk, like he just knew _exactly_ what we were thinking. And he probably _did-_ the arse. I don't know how time passed, but somehow it did, and at some point Sasori left the room – I couldn't say when or how or why, and the only reason I even knew it happened was because Gaara suddenly started talking.

"You know," he piped up. "If he kills us, we're probably never going to be found."

Shikamaru faltered for half a second in his polishing. "Mhmm..." was the only muttered response.

"How do you think he does it?"

Neji and I rolled our eyes and Shikamaru's darted up to the door to make sure Sasori wasn't back.

"No, seriously, look at yourselves and think of everything you're made of, then imagine –"

"Gaara," Neji said softly but with a clear warning.

The redhead glanced up from the ring he was shaping, annoyed. "What?"

"You're not helping."

He shrugged.

"And it's not like he has a _reason_ to kill us," I tried to reason.

They all turned to me with raised eyebrows, and I sighed.

"We haven't done anything."

"They don't need reasons," Shikamaru said quietly. "All they have to do is trace the connections of anyone and everyone involved and eventually lead themselves to you, which leads to us. It's not hard."

I frowned. "Thanks. I was trying to be optimistic."

"You're never optimistic," Gaara supplied, back to bashing at the ring in his hands.

Neji put a hand softly on the table between us all and said carefully, "Regardless of reasons or anything like that – you all know we're not allowed to talk about it. We don't know what's happening in enough detail to get away with it and we can't stir up trouble."

I narrowed my eyes and was about to ask him just when he thought he had the right to tell us how we should act when he wasn't even the one directly affected in _any_ of this, when Gaara cut across me.

"But he's not here," he pointed out.

"That's beside the point. Be serious."

Gaara pressed his lips into a thin line, seemingly struggling with himself, but kept his mouth shut. It would never fail to surprise me how much influence Neji had over him already.

Not over me, though.

But, of course, Sasori chose that moment to come back and not let me give the Hyuuga a piece of my mind. All heads in the class turned as he knocked on the door, arms full of posters and workbooks and bits of paper – our assignments. He looked at the four of us pointedly but we just stared back blankly. So did the rest of the class – minus Ino, of course.

She took a quick glance at us before dropping her polishing cloth and hurrying over. "I'll get –"

"Do it and die."

She skidded to a halt. "Okay."

Sasori glared threateningly at us all as Ino shrank back into her seat at a sharp jerk of the head from Gaara. We all stared back. Haku hid a smirk behind his hair as he ducked his head down to his work. A few people fidgeted. Some obnoxious guy asked us why we weren't letting him in.

"Why should we?" I asked, giving him a condescending look over my shoulder. "He's only going to be an arse to us like usual."

"Yeah, but... I kinda want my assignment back..."

"Well this isn't about you, is it?" I snapped angrily.

Shikamaru sighed as the kid looked down at the table. Neji bit his lip to stop his amusement showing.

Sasori looked steadily angrier as the seconds passed and everyone slowly got back to their work, shuffling around the room. On my way past the door to the buffer I flicked the lock, unlocking it but not opening it. That would only drive him more insane. He _hated_ waiting. Well, he was just going to have to. No one was opening that door.

Sucker.

He managed to get it open eventually and the level of noise that had crept up again died down immediately. He kicked it shut behind him, the automatic click of the lock loud in the silence, and growled as he stomped his way over to the front table and dumped all our assignments down on it. He closed his eyes in the suffocating silence and when he opened them, they were ice cold and glaring.

"I was going to tell you all that this is my last class here in this shithole."

A collective sigh of relief went around the class and he tilted his head with an eerily fake grin.

"Aw, isn't that nice? I hate you too. In fact, I _was_ going to use this opportunity to tell you just how _much_ I hate you, but I'm not entirely sure the words exist anymore. So put down whatever piece of crap you're working on, I never cared about it anyway, come get your own assignment because it was a waste of time for me to learn your names, and get the hell out of my class. Sound like a plan? I thought so too. Now get moving."

And from there everything was a bit hazy. Everyone moved at once, us included, because he was looking at us in a way that said he knew we knew. We knew he knew we knew. And he knew we knew he knew we knew. He didn't look happy, and that didn't quite cover how _we_ were feeling.

His knuckles were white as he gripped the tabletop while everyone scrabbled for their assignments, and I'm sure he tried to stop us but Shikamaru just kicked the door shut in his face and locked it from the outside.

Nice.

---

I'd never liked after school detentions – in fact, I don't even remember my last one, or if I'd even _had_ one. But I'm sure they'd never been this bad. Or maybe it was just awful because I was hours away from... _something_, and I'd just spent last period with a boyfriend who made me feel all sorts of things I didn't understand and a teacher who left the class for good (not that he was really teaching anyway. Pervert) suspiciously soon after my cousin oh-so-innocently walked past. Because that only made me think about what I didn't want to think about, but the silence meant there was nothing else I _could_ think about.

I sat in a blank silence, the only noise being the scratch of Haku's pen, but I couldn't sit still. And while I didn't pull a Naruto and start pacing and ranting, apparently I didn't do a good job of keeping it hidden, either. And Haku was either incredibly perceptive or a freakishly lucky guesser, because he picked it up. That, or I just failed at being an Uchiha at that moment.

It was when I was trying to ignore how similar the shade of my orange pencil was to that t-shirt Naruto always wore because I was _not_ that pathetic, that Haku finally decided to make use of our semi-agreement.

He turned to me, swivelling around in his chair, and asked bluntly, "What's up with you? You look wrecked."

I frowned at the observation, annoyed that he was completely right. "You know that feeling when everything gets out of control and is so much more complicated than you thought that you're left on your arse in the middle of the road with no idea how you got there or where to go?"

He gave me an odd look, like a half-sympathetic, half-amused smile. "Ah..."

I nodded. "Yeah, that."

And that was it, but while he didn't say it, his eyes told a different story. He was holding something back, either because he wasn't allowed to say it or he just didn't want me to know. In any case, it made me uneasy.

In the ensuing silence, my thoughts started their circular motions again and there was no way I could stop them – but it all lead to the same thing: nothing. I wouldn't know anything until I got there tonight. I could plan, I could organise what I would say to Naruto, but I would never actually _know_. And when I tried to think about what in hell would happen with the Akatsuki or when it would happen; all I came to was a giant wall that said 'you are useless'. And it was frustrating because really, it was totally right.

I almost sighed in relief when Anko interrupted some indefinable amount of time later, because I could feel the back of my head start to throb again.

She stood at the door and leaned against the frame with her arms crossed, glaring us both down as we looked up hopefully. It _had_ to be an hour by now.

She shook her head at me. "Oh no, no, you've still got ten minutes of fun. I'm just here to make sure you don't make a break for it because you kids are shifty like that."

Great.

"Seriously, Anko-sensei, I'm going to be late."

"Yes."

"For an assessment performance."

"Yes."

"It's very important."

"Oh, I bet it is."

"If I'm late Orochimaru-sensei will kill me."

"... You know, if you hadn't added '-sensei' onto that, I _might_ have let you go."

Haku laughed through his nose silently at my totally stumped look. "I'm sorry?"

She tilted her head and made an impatient motion with her hands. "We-ell, he's not really a teacher, as such, more of a... I guess 'freeloader's not the right word."

"How about 'blackmailer'?" Haku offered.

She grinned at him in a way that was almost intimidating. "I guess you could say that."

I didn't even think before I said, "Well maybe if I get there earlier I can hunt him down before the show and kill him. Sound like a good idea?"

"You bet it does. Make up the time tomorrow." And she stepped aside, letting me through with a sweep of her hand.

Well, that was easy.

After I gave Haku a quick nod, I ducked out and hurried down the empty hallway as I heard Haku's overly-charming voice float through the doorway.

"Anko-sensei, is it at all possible -?"

"You're a sweet kid, really, but don't push your luck."

"Ca-"

"No."

I let myself chuckle quietly as I got my stuff and began to sprint all the way home, wishing there was a bus or _something_, because my lungs were going to explode. Seriously. I came barrelling through the front door at a quarter to five, _this_ close to face planting because of the stupid cat and surprising the life out of Itachi as he threw his mobile phone into the air with a yelp.

"Hi, can't – _fucking cat_! – talk sorry gotta be quick," was all I managed to shoot out before I'd grabbed what I'd left out on my bed that morning and jumped into the shower. Needless to say – quickest. Shower. Of. My life.

I shouted out to Itachi to put some bread in the toaster for me as I got dressed, my mind working too fast and too frantically to worry about anything other than being late, the stress conveniently overriding any of the uneasiness settling in my stomach. Instead, he handed a toasted sandwich to me as soon as I opened the door. I didn't even think to ask how he'd made them that fast, and just wolfed them down as he started yapping away in a cheery voice.

"I called your school today and spoke to some wonderful woman called Shizune who told me all about this wonderful play of yours tonight and I figured I hadn't seen Orochimaru for a while so it really would be wonderful to see him and then I went to Kisame's and we had the most wonderful shag and he agreed to come along because he's wonderful like that and basically – he'll be here in a second and we can give you a lift. How wonderful is he?"

I stopped chewing, swallowing thickly as Itachi nodded his head at me with wide eyes and an even wider smile.

"You wouldn't _believe_ how many adjectives I'm thinking of right now," I muttered with another mouthful, swallowing the last bite of my perfectly-browned sandwich.

He frowned. "What -?"

"You ready yet?"

My pulse sped up drastically, already high from the stress and physical exertion, and I turned to face the figure standing just inside the front door.

It's funny how suddenly everything comes crashing down on you when you think you've _finally_ let it all sink in.

It's not an entirely pleasant feeling.

Itachi bounded up to Kisame with an enormous grin, tugging him outside and urging me to follow. I grabbed my bag off the hook and tried my hardest not to think once we were in the car. I tried not to think that, now that I was looking at him properly, Kisame seemed... a little off. It was nothing glaringly obvious, but it made me wonder how much of him was _him_, just like with Orochimaru.

His eyes were the most noticeable, too small for his face but not in a 'he's just unfortunate' way. I looked at his skin and tried not to think about what was missing because really, it was blue in the right light, and probably more intensely so under stage lights. He had a strange facial structure, completely different from anything I'd ever seen in a really unnerving way.

I put my head in my hands, trying and failing at stopping my thoughts from heading to Itachi and how worried I was for him. Because Orochimaru wasn't _out_ yet, as much as it disgusted me, and Itachi seemed like the only one who hadn't been messed with.

And where would he stop? How long before he finally hooked Naruto in? How long before he went to drastic lengths to get _me_? It wasn't like he hadn't already tried.

And if Sasori and Deidara were out – But no, Shisui said that once you were in, you were in for life, and they couldn't have stuffed up _that_ badly. And if they had, they would be back. Just because they disagreed with Orochimaru didn't mean they would quit for good – people like _that_ didn't just _quit_. It didn't make sense.

I must've been staring without realising it, because Kisame's too-small eyes flicked up to the rear-view mirror and he growled out, "What's so interesting?"

I stared back and ever so slightly lifted an eyebrow, somewhat like a challenge, and a quiet but definite "Shithead" was heard that could only have been directed at me.

Hn.

Freak.

---

There was an excited atmosphere at the theatre that felt out of place to me as Itachi raved on and tried to give me tips. I shifted from foot to foot, casting anxious glances at Kisame fiddling with his keys in the background. I didn't have time for this.

"... bruise is going to show up like a bullet wound to the head on stage so cover it up well! You'll always forget your lines just before you go on, but _don't stress._ I pro–"

"Itachi."

"Yes?"

"I know. Shh."

"Okay!"

I restrained from rolling my eyes as I took a couple of steps backwards, ready to go. "Just promise me that you won't go and visit Orochimaru. In fact, stay as far away from him as you can. Seriously."

Itachi tilted his head, obviously confused. "Why would I go and see him? I hate the bastard."

I blinked. That made things a bit easier. "But – didn't you –"

"Go! You'll be late!" He turned me around and shoved me towards the entrance where panicking senior students were running in and out, make-up half done and holding hair pins in their teeth. "I promise I'll stay away if it means you'll listen to what I said. Now go and make me proud!"

Kisame just stared as I glanced over my shoulder.

I resisted giving him the finger, because, you know, that would be _rude_ and all.

So I braced myself and forced my legs to move in the direction Itachi pointed me in, a sense of dread settling in my stomach that had been building up all day. It was that sickening, empty feeling, where it feels... like nothing, really, but it still manages to make you sick with nerves. Your throat gets thick, you clench your jaw, and find it hard to concentrate when people speak to you. You fidget and try to ignore the twisting in your stomach, but that only makes it worse.

So it was no wonder I jumped a mile when Shisui appeared behind me and clamped a hand on my shoulder. I looked at him through the mirror blankly, hands paused in my hair as I tried to arrange it into some semblance of neatness after my hurried shower. "What?"

He said nothing, the only indication that he even knew I spoke being the slight narrowing of his eyes.

I shrugged my shoulder out of his grip and took the few steps over to the sink to wash the small amount of gel off my hands, wishing I could wash these damn nerves away with it. Because there were only two ways to interpret that hard stare in my cousin's eyes, and neither brought any comfort.

I took a deep breath with my eyes closed, and opened them to look directly at him. "Tonight," was all I said. No question. Just a statement.

I got a curt nod in reply as he turned on his heel, saying quietly over his shoulder at the door, "Be alert. Be careful. Stay safe, and _stay with your friends_. You know who we're dealing with – no one has time to go chasing any of you." A small pause as he took one step out the door, then added, "And good luck."

I almost snorted. Yeah, right.

"You too..."

I took a deep breath once the door was closed, that sick and empty feeling suddenly intensifying a hundred fold. I leaned over the sink, looking down into it as I forced myself to stay calm. I had to remind myself of what I'd been saying for the past however long – _there was nothing I could do_. I could only hope to all things good in this world that the other four knew that too.

All I could do was do exactly as Shisui said – be alert, careful, and stick with the others as much as possible, if only because everyone had more than likely been told we would be together, and less strays meant less trouble. And believe it or not, I even listened to Itachi. He said to use my nerves to my advantage, and that was exactly what I would do. If I was nervous then I would be naturally more wary, alert to every sound.

God, what was I talking about? I had no _fucking idea_ how to act in a situation like this. The only thing I knew was that keeping calm and rational was the key. I'd only grown up around Sharingan Protection for six years and I was acting like I knew everything? I just had to trust. Trust Shisui, trust Kakashi and Iruka – and all the other people I didn't know.

And surprisingly, I felt a lot safer than I should have.

Everyone we had had to be capable. Everyone we had had to know the entire situation. And really, no one liked Orochimaru. At least I could be sure that he would be gone by the end of this, and I found myself not really caring _how_.

As for everyone else... I would have to leave that up to my cousin.

The Akatsuki and Sharingan had a score to settle.

Face set in a careful mask of how I should look, I opened the door and stepped out into the hall, dodging costumes and flying hair and random strips of cloth and people doing a last minute practice – too see Naruto just before the stairs to the stage. His shoulders were slumped and he was leaning his forehead against the wall, and I could see the shaking from here, be it from nerves or anger at someone, though, I had no way of knowing.

It made my heart twist in a way I had sort of grown used to around Naruto, but it was a little more... intense. It almost hurt. So it was only natural that I went up to him and put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, like he had for me yesterday, and couldn't stop it sliding further around until I was hugging him and resting my chin on his shoulder.

He didn't make a sound, but he did turn to me and wrap his arms around my waist. And I couldn't help but notice that he stopped shaking immediately. The uncomfortable twist in my heart intensified.

But before I knew it the moment – whatever it was – was over and we were side stage, Naruto's mini-breakdown of sorts forgotten as he talked easily with Kiba and I rubbed my hands together, trying to remember that nerves were a good thing.

I scowled as he laughed loudly at something Dog Boy said, no need to worry about the noise he was making – the audience was clapping too loud for the sound to carry. Checking the watch that came with my costume, I had to remind myself that it was a _costume_, and therefore was useless to me. Not like I had a timeframe to go by anyway. They would act when they wanted to and I would when I had to.

I forced my eyes to stay focused on the stage staff, changing the props for our scene, and refused to look at Naruto, refused to think about what happened earlier _and_ yesterday and really did try very hard not to let my eyes slide over to him again. But within seconds I was watching him out of the corners again and frowned as I saw Kiba lean down slightly, saying something quietly (now that Orochimaru was front stage and the audience was silent) in Naruto's ear that had them both suddenly silent and reserved.

Kiba patted him on the back and left Naruto staring at the ground, biting his lip.

What…?

Orochimaru was walking past me, growling, "Don't fuck it up." The lights were on, I was at the desk, and Naruto was walking through the makeshift door with a pile of papers in his hand. I blinked, suddenly realising that I would have to act like I was happily in love with someone I could hardly stand to _look_ at because every time I did I didn't know what to think.

Ugh.

He smiled at me, turning to face the front like he was supposed to. I laced my fingers across my stomach and regarded him coolly, just like I was supposed to. So far so good.

"Company's going under," he said conversationally.

I blinked, confused. "Sorry?"

He absently flicked through the pages in his hand. "Don't act dumb, Nao-san. We know you're in on it."

He was… that _bastard_. He was changing the script entirely! The only thing that was the same so far was that he was facing the bloody audience. I didn't need this right now. I wasn't concentrating enough as it was, let alone enough to _make up_ lines.

I cleared my throat nervously, the only thing I could come up with being, "Who's 'we'?"

He shifted his weight and appeared to be inspecting his nails. "All our friends on the tenth floor. We've seen you having your private little meetings, so don't pretend you don't know."

I felt like jumping up and shouting 'What the _fuck_?!', but something told me that Naruto wasn't even acting and that weirded me out even more.

It was the way he stood, his weight unevenly shared as he leaned on his left leg that reminded me of when he was trying to say something that no one seemed to understand, and he just couldn't get through to them. It was the nervous shifting of his hands constantly playing with the paper he was holding, and the tone of voice that said 'shut up and listen, and don't you _dare_ interrupt me'.

To anyone else he was just acting and acting well, but to me… this was Naruto.

And all I could do was follow along with whatever the hell he was doing until I figured it out.

"I'm not-"

Suddenly Naruto rounded on me, now the both of us facing the audience side-on, slamming the stack of papers on the desk loudly. "You've been having meetings with the company heads on the sly, haven't you? You've dragged a few friends in, but shut me out. You _know_ how much this place means to me, how hard I worked to get where I am, but you still went off on your own little selfish whatever-it-was and left me in the dark."

Oh God.

He wasn't bullshitting this time.

"I wasn't being selfish," I said quietly, refusing to meet his eyes and not caring if the audience could hear me or not. This wasn't about them anymore.

"Oh really? What was it, then?"

I leant my elbows on the desk, my head in my hands and wondering how the _hell_ this happened. I'd seen him in close conversations with Gaara a couple of times this week, and he'd been in Tsunade's office a lot more than usual – not to mention the way he and Haku had been talking - but I hadn't even thought in _passing_ that he was asking about this, asking about what was going on. In a way I was mad, because I had worked so hard to keep it from him and keep him safe, _knowing_ that if Orochimaru found anything out he would take his anger out on him. It had happened anyway, even though Naruto knew nothing.

But at the same time as wanting to punch him into next year, I was sort of grateful that all the hard work had been done for me, and there were no more explanations to procrastinate. Which I was very good at. I floundered for a response as my mind raced. How much did he know? Did he only know that there was something shifty going on and we had been discussing it with Kakashi and Iruka, or did he know the full details? Did he know about the Akatsuki, about Orochimaru and the others? Did he just know or did he _understand_?

"It was for _you_," I forced out, talking down to the tabletop

This was killing me. Absolutely killing me, the way he didn't understand.

"I couldn't tell you because you would have stopped me. You wouldn't have wanted me to get further involved, and I knew you would refuse my… my…"

I was suddenly at a loss as to how to tie this all into the play and convince everyone we were actually acting and not having a potentially life-threatening fight on stage.

He recognised my dilemma and supplied an answer for me, though I couldn't tell if it was because he was being nice or because he was still pissed off and wanted to give me a piece of his mind.

"Your _what_? Your offer of a safe escape out of here before everything fell apart? You thought I'd reject your help, so you hid me from everything until the problem went away – is that right?"

"I _had_ to!" I insisted, finally raising my eyes to his.

He glared at me, accusing me. "It was _about_ me," he said, quieter this time, but with just as much force. "I had a _right_ to know."

I didn't know how convincing we were anymore, because over Naruto's shoulder I could see half our drama class standing in the wings. Sakura, Neji and Kiba all had their mouths hanging open in shock, but only Hyuuga had enough sense to cover it with his hand. I shifted my gaze to over Naruto's right shoulder, and saw a livid Orochimaru mouthing all sorts of obscenities at me, practically tearing his hair out as he restrained from lunging on stage and most likely beating one or both of us to a pulp.

He knew what was going on. If Naruto knew, then he _definitely_ knew

"It stopped being about you a while ago, Kazu... you should know that if you know this much."

The way his hands clenched told me that he _did_ know.

"Things got too complicated to tell you without endangering you, and the last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt. For _any_ of us to get hurt," I said, hoping he would see it my way for once and see that it _wasn't_ just about him.

"What – and you didn't think I'd figure it out when all of a sudden the money came pouring back in and we got back to the top? When people stopped whispering in the corridors and when _you_ stopped forgetting about me?"

I blinked, losing track of what he was talking about for a second before I realised we _were_ still on stage, and replied, "I was going to explain once it was over. I know you're not stupid."

Well I did _now_.

No, that was a lie. I always knew Naruto was a lot smarter than anyone gave him credit for – the fact that he was standing in front of me right now telling me exactly what he thought of my little 'plan' proved that.

What I saw in his eyes was hurt, that was all. Hurt that I hadn't trusted him, hurt that I'd kept something so important from him, and hurt that – but no, that couldn't be right.

"You still forgot about me. You forgot how _I_ might feel about it all."

He was acting like it was over, like _we_ were over.

Oh nonono. That wasn't right. He couldn't think that. That wasn't what was happening. I had to get him _back_, not let him go. I couldn't... I couldn't do that.

I swallowed down the nervous lump in my throat as he dropped his head. "Maybe everyone was right about us."

I heard a couple of people in the audience begin to whisper, and someone coughed awkwardly as someone else in the front row shifted uncomfortably in their seat.

"And now you're leaving, and I don't have a say in it."

This was wrong. None of this was supposed to drive Naruto away – it was all started _for_ him. It began with him and sure, it may have escalated in a way we never could have predicted, but it still began with _me_ wanting to help _him_. With the thought of anyone touching _my_ Naruto that way making me want to vomit, and I guess it was just convenient that he happened to be a sick bastard who got into trouble often, because it made revenge for him and my friends a hell of a lot easier.

I lifted my chin defiantly, glaring straight at Orochimaru as he made slicing motions across his neck. All I did was raise an eyebrow and tap Naruto's chin, getting him to look at me.

"They _were_ right – if they said we were perfect, because there hasn't been a second that's gone by that I haven't thought of you. Everything I've done these past couple of months has been for _you_, because I _do_ know how much this place means to you, and I would _kill_ whoever tried to take that away from you. We all just got a little carried away, a little caught up in what was happening underneath, but I _never_ forgot about you. Even when it stopped being so focused on what I was doing for you, I still thought about you. Even when I was dealing with the effects it would have on other people who are important to me – to _us_ – I still thought about you. I _always_ thought about you, because you wouldn't let me think about anything else for long enough."

Well, what a time to finally acknowledge how insanely in love I was with the dobe.

And to think I used to pride myself on timing.

Naruto was looking at me in a way that was far too hard to describe, but I guess you could call it amazement if you had to label it as anything.

I stood up, heart hammering in my chest and stomach improving its acrobatic skills, and walked around to his side of the desk. I waited for him to take a couple of confused steps back so I could squeeze in and sit on top of it, reaching out for one of his hands.

Being this soft was killing me, but I had to do it. I had to grit my teeth and deal with the shit I would cop later, because he had to understand how serious I was. And if making him see that meant getting disgustingly romantic and all things I hated, then so be it. He wouldn't listen to me if I was an arse about it – that, at least, was _something_ I'd learned and actually paid attention to.

But before looking at Naruto and taking the proverbial plunge, I noticed a quick movement out of the corner of my eye that most definitely wasn't someone moving about uncomfortably. Then I saw that Shisui was missing from his front row seat, I smirked at a still-furious Orochimaru, the outside belying the raging nerves inside.

"But it's okay now. The problem's fixed. We'll be back at the top soon, and there's _nothing_ anyone can do about it."

Orochimaru stopped mid-expletive, and his eyes widened. But perhaps he hadn't caught on properly just yet.

"We've discovered _every_ secret, _every_ trick and _every_ lie they told us."

He paled, visible even through the shadows.

"You're safe from them now – they've learned we aren't to be messed with. And if they ever come back…" I narrowed my eyes. "We'll just have to hunt them down again."

Then I looked away, not bothering to waste any more time on Orochimaru, and gave Naruto a cocky smile.

"As for whether or not I'll leave and the amount of say you have in it…" I glanced down to his lips for half a second, leaning forwards just far enough so that he would be able to feel my breath against them as I continued. "Well, you'll just have to convince me."

I took one fleeting glance at his wide blue eyes before the lights went off, probably courtesy of a very suspicious-looking Kakashi I'd seen lurking around before, and I lifted my hand in thanks to Sakura as she hurriedly pulled the cord to let the heavy curtains fall closed across the stage, before placing it on Naruto's waist.

Someone who sounded distinctly like my brother said in what seemed to be some vague form of an attempt to be quiet, "Somehow.. I don't _think_ it was supposed to happen quite like that…"

Naruto and I gave a breathy laugh, neither of us looking away as we heard a scattered applause start up behind the curtain. It seemed strained at first, then Tsunade's voice cut across them all.

"You better not be doing anything indecent back there!" A few people laughed and others wolf-whistled. "But you most definitely have my permission for marriage, Uchiha!"

That seemed to relax everyone, making a joke of a situation they weren't sure was real or an act, and they began cheering, applauding loudly for us both.

But it was just noise to me. I couldn't care less if they were awkward, uncomfortable, wanting to congratulate us or throttle us, thinking it was an act or knowing it was something more – what did it matter?

Naruto was standing in front of me, and I didn't want to be anywhere else.

I looked straight into his eyes, took a deep breath, briefly gave myself an inner pep-talk about how it wasn't _that_ bad being romantic once (and only once) in a while, and said, "I love you," right before kissing him.

Thank God _that_ was over.

I felt his smile as he returned the kiss, the hand not entangled in mine reaching up to rest on the back of my neck. I pulled him closer, honestly not caring at all that there was another act from the year level above waiting to go on, that something very interesting was probably going on with Orochimaru at the moment, or that we really should've been off stage by now.

I just kissed him harder, exploring what was offered to me and said with actions what I really didn't like saying with words. It wasn't that I didn't know how, or I couldn't do it, it was that I didn't _like_ to. I felt exposed and vulnerable whenever I revealed something and by the way Naruto was smiling against my lips, I gathered he either appreciated how hard it was for me to admit that, or was gonna give me a smartarse comment.

And judging by the smirk as he pulled back, I guessed it would be the latter.

"You say it like you're waiting for me to say it back," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Yep. Right again.

I lifted an eyebrow of my own. "That's because I know you will."

He snorted and tugged on my hair lightly. "I won't now, just to spite you."

I just shrugged, still smiling cockily as he slung his arm properly around my shoulders, turning me to face the stage wings and walking us both out.

"Come on, we're holding everyone up."

"So?"

"Once a bastard, always a bastard, I tell you."

"_No_ – well, yes – but I just don't see how anyone else really matters at the moment."

"Aw, was that a half-arsed attempt at being romantic?"

"I've used up my romantic quota for the next ten years in the last ten minutes."

"You did quite well, I must say."

"Thank you, thank you. I put a lot of work into that."

"You didn't even know what was going on!"

"An Uchiha _always_ knows what's going on. It's everyone else that's confused."

"Of course, my mistake. I understand."

"Good."

"…But… is it true?"

"Which part?"

"All of it."

"…Yeah."

"So he's -?"

"Yep."

"And they're -?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you -?"

"I do."

"Wow."

"I guess you could say that."

---

It was funny how something so ordinary to everyone else meant everything to me and a select few others.

A suspicious sounding _thud_ coming from one of the dressing rooms in the back-section of the theatre meant more than it should have, and two completely identical cars in the car park got us thinking things we probably shouldn't. When we couldn't find the head of the drama department anywhere, despite the fact that this entire production was a collection of plays under _his_ direction, we started to think something was up.

Then when we saw Kakashi down in the car park and Iruka side-stage and we realised that the suspicious-sounding thud from earlier wasn't the two of them getting carried away, we _knew_ something was up.

It was only confirmed when my own cousin completely ignored me in the hallway, and we were all thrown into this room with barely a word of explanation.

"Oh my God, what's happening? What's happening? What are they doing? They're not going to take us in for questioning, are they? Oh my God, what if they _do_? What do I say? I wouldn't mention any of your names, of course, but what if they _torture_ it out of me? What if -?"

"Sakura, please do us all a favour and _shut up_."

"But –"

"You've already been _told _everything! There's nothing else to do!"

Sakura glared at Gaara with her hands on her hair, looking beyond frantic. Gaara, on the other hand, looked about ready to kill her. Which meant everything was all well and good on his side of town.

Naruto was leaning with his back against the wall, chewing his lip and staring absently, completely lost in thought. Shikamaru and Neji looked vaguely thoughtful, and I was _hoping _I looked more or less calm and in control, while on the inside I wanted nothing more than to send my fist through the nearest wall to vent my total frustration.

I wanted to be _out_ there. I _deserved_ to be.

But no, it was decided earlier that we would have nothing more to do with it and there was nothing I could do. The only reason we were all shut up in this back room was because Iruka herded us in once he'd spotted us lurking around backstage, the only explanation being, "The audience is safe in the one room and all the other kids are sitting up in the balcony. Stay quiet."

Then the door slammed shut and I'd started silently fuming.

But we all did as we were told, of course, and stayed quiet, sprawled on the couches and watching the clock tick over the minutes. Shikamaru fell asleep briefly, somehow able to keep calm in any situation (either that or Temari was still wearing him out too much), and Gaara and Neji just stared blankly, lost in the world of their own thoughts. And while Sakura had eventually lost it before Gaara cut her off, even Naruto was quiet for a majority of the time, and he was probably the most overwhelmed of all of us.

I was about to go over to him when we heard a voice from the hall outside.

"I can't find him anywhere."

Gaara leapt to his feet with a snarl, lunging towards the door in a sudden burst of action too fast for anyone to react – except Neji. He shot out a hand to grip Gaara's arm, yanking him down to the couch and glaring at him pointedly. They seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes, but I didn't have to try and understand whatever it was about, because Sakura paled and made an odd squeak of either surprise or shock as the next voice replied.

"So? We said we were out, didn't we? We shouldn't even be here."

I put a hand on her shoulder in what I hoped was reassurance, but she ignored me, her eyes fixed on the door. Naruto was looking between Gaara and Sakura in confusion, but I shook my head, telling him I couldn't explain it now. Obviously his ventures hadn't taken him as far back as what these two dealt with, and their own reason for wanting to be involved in this mess.

I could feel Sakura's muscles tensing under my hand and I honestly wasn't entirely sure if I'd be able to restrain her if she decided to overcome her fear and go for it. Neji was having a bitch of a time with Gaara, too, by the looks of it. And while I'd never actually seen what Sasori and Deidara could do, I still felt relatively confident that Sakura and Gaara could take them if they seriously wanted to.

Which they most _definitely_ did.

"You can't blame me for being curious."

My grip tightened as Sakura's eyes hardened dangerously and out of the corner of my eye I saw Neji force Gaara around to look at him.

"I can and _will_ if your 'curiosity' lands our arses in jail," Sasori countered, practically snarling.

I tried to convey all the reasons why going out there was a _bad idea_ through my glare.

"Have we seen anyone _remotely_ suspicious yet? No, no we haven't, so either he's already been dealt with, or he's up and left."

"They wouldn't take him in a crowded theatre, you idiot. There are too many eyes around. Even _they're_ not that dumb."

"Yes, but all in the one room," Deidara replied, the smirk obvious through his voice.

Apparently Sasori didn't have anything to say to that, because the sound of footsteps indicated he was walking away, in the opposite direction of the stage.

Sakura was breathing heavily through her nose, visibly trying to calm herself down.

"I don't recall seeing a certain few _kids_ in that one room…" Sasori's voice was faint now, but Deidara's was loud and clear.

"Well, let's go have some fun, then."

Oh, Gaara didn't like that.

"I'm gonna kill 'em," he hissed, still carrying enough sense to keep his voice low. "I swear, Neji, let me go. I am _not_ just gonna sit here and watch them get away again and again."

"They won't," Shikamaru cut in quietly.

We all turned to look at him, and he shrugged.

"They put us in here for a reason, you know, and not just to keep us out of the way. They're not stupid."

"As if they knew those two would come!"

I sent Naruto a thankful look as he came to wrap an arm around Sakura's shoulders, always better at calming people down than me. Then I turned to Gaara in frustration, hissing out, "You don't know how these people's minds work, whereas I was pretty much _born_ to understand. People in families like mine make it their life to know, so don't insult my cousin's work. The fact that any of this is happening is thanks to him, and while I understand _exactly_ how badly you want to go out there, _you_ need to sit down, shut the hell up, and get it into your head that they wouldn't _dare_ let anyone escape. It's _not_ their job. They're not _allowed_ to."

Silence was all that answered me, but I saw Sakura let out a quiet breath as Shikamaru nodded his appreciation. Neji gave me a grim, twisted smile as he turned to speak urgently to Gaara, voice too quiet to hear exactly what he was saying.

And despite how strongly I may have said all that and how much I really _did_ believe it, the urge to go out there and do something – _anything_ – was still strong. I hated sitting back and listening to everything that was happening and being completely unable to help.

But I'd basically promised we wouldn't interfere, and I couldn't risk bringing any more danger to everyone else in here. Not to mention after that little speech, I'd look a right idiot going through that door.

Some parts of my mind, though – a very, _very large_ part – said 'Screw them. They're already as involved as they're ever gonna be so get your arse out there and _do_ something!' The other, much smaller, part of my brain was trying to reason it out with me, shooting out all the reasons I'd given Sakura about why I shouldn't go out there and most probably play havoc with my cousin's plans just because I was feeling a little left out.

The large part of my brain was winning out slowly, and the smaller part honestly wasn't putting up much of a fight. I understood all too well what Gaara and Sakura were feeling.

I was unashamed to admit that I was shit scared of going out there, because I honestly had _no_ idea what might happen to any of us, but at the same time I was so _angry. _All I wanted was to see Orochimaru caught by any of the men my brother had brought in – or women, if you counted Tayuya. I just wanted to know for myself that he was gone and Naruto was definitely safe, that two of his 'cronies', as such, weren't coming back to screw with my friends again. I didn't want to just be _told_. I wanted to _know_.

My fists clenched and unclenched at my sides, and I bit down hard on my lip, hard enough to draw blood.

I swear, I was _this_ _close_ to storming over to the door and doing I have no idea what, when Shikamaru said my name in a low, quiet warning voice.

I snapped my gaze from the door to my friend, daring him to stop me.

He stood and walked slowly to the door, leaning his back against it casually and inspecting his nails, customary bored expression still in place.

I opened my mouth to tell him I was _sick_ of sitting around and doing nothing, when he jerked his head to the back of the room. Getting the hint, I turned to see whatever he wanted me to look at, and rolled my eyes at the cheap trick.

Naruto had his arms around Sakura's shoulders as they shook, either with fear, tears, or self-restraint, I couldn't tell. But then look on Naruto's face was definitely fear and it made me feel… weird.

This was still new to him, even though he knew almost as much as us now, - thanks to whoever he beat the information from – and he must have still been confused out of his mind to some degree. Despite that, he was acting confident in his typical Naruto-fashion, and whispering words of comfort to Sakura as she calmed down.

I turned back to Shikamaru, gave him the finger as he smirked, and sat down with a heavy sigh on the couch that wasn't occupied by a still-furious Gaara and an exasperated Neji.

I rubbed at my eyes, wishing someone would tell us _something_. We kept hearing faint applause from the stage, and a glance at the noisy clock on the wall told us it would have been well into the year twelve's performance by now.

The minutes ticked by as various groups passed by our room noisily, laughing and talking about the different plays. One or two stuck their heads in, every single one of us whipping around to see who it was, but they just ducked their heads in apology and left again, leaving us in our own torturous silence again.

After half an hour or so, the noise died down entirely and we heard absolutely nothing.

If anything, that was worse.

Silence was never fun when Naruto and Sakura were in a room together, and the fact that they weren't snapping or poking fun at each other made it all the stranger.

But when the dragging silence was finally broken, it made us all hold our breath and Naruto's face pale. He'd come to sit beside me at some point, I couldn't remember when, and I put a hand on his knee as what was unmistakably Orochimaru's voice floated up angrily from however many stories below.

"You cheap _bastard_! You sold me out, didn't you? You couldn't keep your word, and now look what's happened! Look what you've _done_ to me!"

There was a scuffling sound before a vaguely familiar voice joined in.

"You're disgusting, you know that? I offered you a home even when I knew you were running from something. I fought long and hard with Tsunade –"

"_That_ bitch is the one that – _ugh_!"

"Don't you _dare_ call her that. _Ever_. She gave you a job and supported you even though she never trusted you, and _this_ is how you thank her? Thank _us_?"

Naruto brought both legs up and rested his chin on his knees. I took his hand and squeezed it tightly, too unsure of myself and what was going on to do anything else.

"If you ever _dare_ come within ten _kilometres_ of my nephew _ever_ again, I will have your head. And you _know_ I'm not kidding."

I recognised the voice, then. Jiraiya. But what was he doing here? Last I knew, he had hardly anything to do with this at all, and Tsunade was seriously unhappy with him.

"Your disgusting rat of a nephew is what caused all this, you realise," Orochimaru sneered. "Him and that pathetic waste-of-space goddamn boyfriend of his." I have never wanted to kill someone so much in all my life. "That Uchiha went and tried to take Naruto all for himself, and got a little jealous when he found out about –"

There was a sickening, crunching sound followed by a gagging cough, and Sakura made a distressed whimper from her position at the end of the couch Naruto and I were on. Shikamaru moved to sit on the couch arm beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. Neji and Gaara were shifting uncomfortably, obviously awkward about what they were overhearing.

"Speak of that _one_ more time around me and –"

"Oh, so he _has_ decided to come out and play, has he?"

"I was beginning to think he didn't care."

I groaned, bringing a hand up to cover my eyes. The last thing we needed now was for Sasori and Deidara to show up, giving them the advantage over Jiraiya.

"We were trying to find some children to play with," Deidara was smirking. "We already know two of them are a bore to fight but fun to mess with, and we wanted to test out the other two."

"That Hyuuga looks like a nice piece of work," Sasori said in a voice that sent chills down my spine. "I might like to _keep_ that one."

Sakura leant forwards against her knees, head in her hands as Neji visibly paled, every single one of us understanding the underlying meaning of that sentence.

"Oh God," Sakura muttered. "I'm going to be sick."

Shikamaru hurriedly rubbed small circles on her back as I gripped Naruto's hand tighter and Gaara's hand came up to play with the hem of Neji's top, almost subconsciously.

"We were thinking of playing with the Uchiha, too," Deidara continued, the dull sound of footsteps floating up to us with the words. "But we decided that his brother gives him enough torture as it is that it's a wonder they're not _both_ psychos."

"And this is _much_ more interesting than any pathetic children. This will be _very_ fun to watch. So please, do carry on."

* * *

Told you it was a monster. I'm sorry. BUT LOOK! STUFF HAPPENED! YAY FOR SASUKE AND NARUTO! AND JIRAIYA! AND CLIFFHANGERS!

-dances-

Even though I am actually really unsatisfied with this chapter. I thought it was okay until I reread it and just... I don't think it's quite right but I wasn't sure exactly where or exactly how to fix it. My bad! but I'm proud of you for making it this far, and the next chapter is... oh... heh.... only 2 pages shorter... why do I do this to myself? And my poor beta!!

Reviews are full of awesome, as are you XD


	25. Get On Your Dancing Shoes

**Warning:** I HAVE NOT FINISHED THE SERIES. I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF IT _IS_ FINISHED. If there are any spoilers, I guarantee you they are _all_ accidental and I highly doubt anything in here is right. Anything in this chapter is purely from my (very, very confused) imagination and – well, for starters, Sharingan Protection doesn't even exist in Naruto and neither does Shisui. I'm pretty sure you're safe.

But in case someone goes off at me for going _completely_ off track and mixing everything up from the original Naruto storyline (which I very vaguely took stuff from-- you'll be able to tell what), I don't actually know anything. Just go with it, 'kay? It makes sense within the story. I hope. Aeigh.

I probably didn't need to explain that, but just so we're clear... In any case, I hope you enjoy this chapter in which EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER HAVE HOPED FOR HAPPENS (or maybe that's been happening these last few chapters, or maybe this chapter just fails), and do be so kind as to review. Thank you all ^^

Aaaaaaand again, because this will never get old, **KL Lover** is sheer wonder for getting these beta'd for me. -throws flowers- AND THE CHAPTER TITLE! -cackles- win. (And I am aware in the drop down thing this chapter is shortened somewhat horribly, but it wouldn't fit, damnit!! DX)

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

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25. GET ON YOUR DANCING SHOES, IT'S TIME TO BOOGIE

"_We were thinking of playing with the Uchiha, too," Deidara continued, the dull sound of footsteps floating up to us with the words. "But we decided that his brother gives him enough torture as it is that it's a wonder they're not _both_ psychos."_

"_And this is much more interesting than any pathetic children. This will be very fun to watch. So please, do carry on."_

---

The silence stretched out for a painfully long time. We all held our breath, waiting for what seemed like an eternity before Orochimaru finally spoke.

"What are _you two_ doing here?"

"Now, now, no need to act so hostile. We just came to enjoy the show," Deidara answered.

"You'll go with them," Jiraiya growled out and he must have done something to Orochimaru again because a pained gasp that couldn't be anyone else's drifted through the open window.

"Go where? To jail?" Sasori scoffed. "Don't make me laugh. We've avoided them for years – do you really think they can stop us now?"

"And how long, exactly, were you planning on running?"

My head snapped up and my eyes widened. That was Shisui. No doubt about it. That was my cousin, down there in the car park. With them. And I didn't know if he was alone or not. Everyone was looking at me, but I couldn't meet their eyes, and I found myself infinitely glad that Itachi was safe inside because otherwise no one could stop me going out there. Not even Shikamaru and his damn condescending looks.

"Who the fuck are you?" Sasori said and the footsteps I could only assume were my cousin's stopped sharp.

"I'll give you three guesses."

A short silence only filled by another of Orochimaru's gasps.

"You're one of _them_, aren't you?" Deidara said. "You're one of those interfering bastards."

I had to see this. I couldn't just _listen_ to my cousin down there and not see what was happening. I looked to the side to give Neji a look, nodding my head to the lights as he stood up. He understood what I was asking and slowly moved away from Gaara to flick the light switch by the door.

No one said a thing as the room was plunged into darkness, and I didn't bother to offer an explanation when I walked over to the window, opening the blinds the tiniest bit so I could see down below. I couldn't see Shisui, but I could see Jiraiya and Orochimaru directly beneath us and if Sasori and Deidara were to take a step to my right I would be able to see them completely as well.

"I rather thought it was the other way around, as far as interfering goes."

"Oh yeah? And how do you figure that?"

I heard Shisui begin to walk as he spoke and sure enough, he soon came into view, standing between Jiraiya and Sasori. "We could've left you alone to do whatever you wanted if you hadn't decided you liked my cousin."

"But that was _this_ one," Jiraiya bit out spitefully, pressing Orochimaru into the wall harder with the arms at his chest. "_This_ sick bastard likes to rope everyone in, doesn't he? He had to have _both_ of them."

"Oh, of course," Deidara agreed. "He's quite partial to the young pretty ones. We don't like that. By all means, get rid of him for us. It would save us all a mountain of trouble."

Shisui moved over to Jiraiya fast as lightning and rested a hand on his shoulder. "No. He's not our only concern."

Sasori stepped closer, finally, and I could see the top of his red head clearly in the glow of the security lights around the car park. "Oh? And who are your other... '_concerns_'?"

Suddenly two more figures stepped into the ring of light and I felt two arms wrap around my waist. I didn't need to look behind me to know it was Naruto as he rested his chin on my shoulder, arms gripping tightly. He was shaking a little bit. I could hear Sakura breathing heavily behind me and the rustle of fabric as Shikamaru no doubt tried to soothe her.

"We are, Sasori. What we stand for, our goals, our beliefs – _us_."

It was the taller figure that had spoken, but I couldn't get a clear enough view of him except for a head of bright orange hair in the dim light. Naruto's arms tightened uncomfortably so and he whispered, "I know that voice..." shakily into my ear.

I just pulled one of his hands away from my body and linked his fingers with my own.

"And _our_ business doesn't solely lie with Orochimaru," said the second figure, the both of them step into the light finally. I tilted my head as I felt Naruto do the same behind me.

"He's sort of... _shiny_, isn't he?" Gaara scoffed to himself as he peered out the window and down below, eyes straining a little in the dark. Neji came up on his other side and poked him in the side as some form of admonishment.

I would've told him off myself but Naruto was tapping my shoulder and pointing down below and Shisui was doing that thing where he moved freakishly fast. He was right up in one of the newcomer's faces, the one with a mask of some sort, it looked like, and his fist came out of nowhere. With a sharp _crack_ the mask split, falling away in slow motion to reveal the face hidden beneath it.

My first thought was that at least this one wasn't 'shiny' (as in sporting an entire tackle box on his face) and the second was that he looked so _young_. Even from this far away I could see he looked young, too young, just like Sasori. Unnatural.

"You _bastard_!" Shisui cried, his voice surprisingly loud in the silence that darkness always seemed to bring with it. No one moved a muscle, not even the man with all the piercings standing right next to him. Orochimaru stopped fighting against Jiraiya while Sasori and Deidara turned to stare. Suddenly everyone was holding their breath.

"You did it, didn't you? It was _you_."

I was only allowed half a second to wonder at the sudden, drastic change from the calm and controlled cousin I knew to _this,_ before the one who had previously been wearing the mask spoke in a perfectly controlled, monotone voice.

"They were power hungry and he was going exactly the same way. Just like you. I did him a favour."

Well I'm glad _someone_ knew what Shisui was talking about, because I sure as hell didn't.

"A _favour_? _You_? You drove him insane and threw him in with your deranged art freaks – don't think we're ignorant. Don't think we've spent all these years hunting you down for nothing. How could you possibly have _helped_ him? All you did was take him away, turn him against us – you took away _my_ best friend and everything he believed in. You changed him for the worse and turned him into one of you."

Something dropped in my stomach. It was that sick, empty feeling again, the nerves clawing at my stomach and up through my throat. I couldn't think. I knew who he was talking about. It wasn't hard to figure out.

"And so what if I did?"

Naruto took away the other arm that was around my waist and rubbed my back in a way I'm sure was meant to be soothing. It just made me agitated. Who _was_ this guy and what in the hell did he do to my brother?

"So what? So _what_? I'll tell you what – I'm going to fucking _kill_ -"

"Shisui!"

Every one of us drew in a sharp breath at once, eyes widening, as did my cousin. Naruto's hand stilled on my back and clenched in the fabric of my jacket. Gaara swore under his breath as Neji stiffened. I heard Sakura give a tiny cry behind me and Shikamaru clear his throat nervously.

We all knew that voice.

Suddenly there were two more presences behind me and I immediately reached out a hand to rest on Sakura's shoulder while Naruto looped one around her waist sideways. She leaned into us as she breathed fast and shallow, looking down at the scene below through the tiny cracks in the blinds.

We all watched with a mixture of emotions too complicated to explain as a whole new group of people walked out of the shadows. Three wore masks, one had pink hair, and the other had hair that reminded us strongly of Shikamaru. I knew them all except one who wore a mask, but judging by who he was standing next to, I could take a guess.

Silence fell upon everyone. All of our eyes fell upon the man with the piercings as he put a hand on the other man's shoulder, the one Shisui had confronted, seemingly calming him down.

None of us dared to breathe, suddenly feeling this irrational fear that they would hear us. The new group to arrive kept walking forwards and I heard my friends make painfully quiet sounds of surprise as they realised who they were. I thought Sakura was going to faint.

The ones in the masks were unmistakably Kakashi, most likely Haku, and who I assumed to be Zabuza. Because Haku would never stand that close to anyone else. Iruka was the other one everyone else knew, but the last... the last one was Tayuya and boy did she look _livid_.

And for some reason, seeing my classmate down there didn't faze me in the slightest. In a way, I'd been expecting it. He couldn't know what he did and just be a bystander.

But I didn't get why they were all here – and there were more. There were more in the shadows that were just waiting, and while I didn't know whose side they were on, I found it didn't really matter. People were people and these people could fight. This was going to be messy, whether anyone wanted it to be or not.

Jiraiya... he was obviously here to settle whatever he and his family had with Orochimaru. Kakashi and Iruka were here because they had a past no one knew of and I didn't like what my imagination was coming up with – they would've had a reason that wasn't simply because Shisui asked them. Haku and Zabuza were here because of Kakashi and Iruka, just like Tayuya was here for Shisui as extra arms and legs. They played no part other than to do as they were told and I couldn't help but think how it must have hurt Tayuya to go against the man who'd looked after her for countless years. But she was smart. She knew what was wrong and how far someone could go before they had to be stopped.

But... no. This wasn't right. Everything was happening at once. These were my teachers, my friends, and my _family_. Why in hell was this happening? Why were yet more people getting tangled up in this? I thought we were the only unnecessary ones, but how could I ever have thought that when there was an entire body of assassins and hit men at my father's disposal? And I couldn't bet on my confidence for Iruka and Kakashi, despite whatever they were hiding from us all, because the Akatsuki was full of people who managed to piss off my father and that meant they were insanely dangerous.

Finally the silence was broken and I could focus on something other than my stress.

"Oh this is going to be fun," Deidara said, the glee evident in his voice.

Sasori's chuckle drifted through the open window, followed by his amused, "Well if we can't play with the children then we might as well play with you. I do hope you're more fun than you look. What do you think, Tobi?" He looked from the shorter man to the pierced one. "Pein? Shall we find us some new recruits or just have a plain old good time?"

"You don't decide these things, Sasori," Pein growled. "Don't forget how close you are to becoming one of your puppets."

Sasori just shrugged as Deidara giggled to himself. "But look at them all. They'd be so _pretty_... Just think of what we could do..."

"If we had the Uchiha and the Hyuuga it would be a perfect haul."

Out of nowhere there was an ear-piercing cry, followed by Jiraiya's shout of pain as Orochimaru pulled some shifty move on him and broke away, appearing in front of Sasori and grabbing a fistful of his jacket, screeching in his face like he'd done to us so many times. Jiraiya tried to make a lunge for him but Shisui was at his side and restraining him immediately, murmuring things we couldn't hear this far away.

But we could hear Orochimaru, all right. Loud and clear.

"If you saw it my way then why would you go with _them_? You know as well as I do that the boy has talent, his whiny boyfriend as well-" Tayuya joined Shisui as Jiraiya cursed loudly, struggling anew, "- and you _know_ that he's smart. He has the beauty we need – _everything_. Do you know what we could have done? Do you know what _he_ could have done for _us_? But you wouldn't listen. None of you would listen! Have I ever been wrong before? _Ever_?!"

The man I now know as Pein's arm moved faster than we could have seen and I didn't have time to have a reaction to Orochimaru's words as a hand closed around his throat.

Everyone on our side took a tense step forwards.

"You have gone wrong too many times, Orochimaru, and you know that fact well." His voice was low and threatening, and I realised I may have found a sixth person to add to my list. "You've tried to take matters into your own hands for far too long, and that is _not_ how we operate. You have involved people who did not need to be involved. This was a simple case of Akatsuki versus Sharingan until you got carried away. You should keep that in mind when you're lying on your death bed in some rotten cell for the rest of your life, and I couldn't care less whether it was with us or with Sharingan, though Sharingan might be nicer."

The words sent a chill down all our spines, I was sure of it, and Sakura had taken hold of my hand so tightly that she had to have been cutting off the circulation. Even Shikamaru's breathing had sped up and that was something to be concerned about.

But I had to think that it was amusing in a way, really.

Orochimaru was at the centre of the entire situation and he brought everything on himself.

He messed around with Naruto one too many times and happened to take too much of a liking to me, so I naturally got curious. He was what began it from our side, and while he certainly wasn't the entire picture, he was a large part of why we were even here in this room, nerves running higher than I think they ever had before in any of our lives.

For my cousin and my father, it was Orochimaru who took Itachi and caused the Akatsuki to fall into ill favour with our company. But no, that wasn't right anymore. Now it was this _other_ guy who had openly admitted to turning my brother into the person he was now. That didn't mean that it was _believed_ to be Orochimaru who had started it, though, so essentially he was the beginning of my father's vendetta against the group.

From the Akatsuki's side, he was the shit-stirrer, as such. He started the rivalry by involving my brother and he started the inter-group rivalry by getting a big head and believing he was the only one who could lead the Akatsuki and bring it back from where it had fallen. He indirectly opposed the leaders, who I assumed were Tobi and Pein, by jeopardising the company or organisation or whatever it was and now he had to pay in true underground fashion because no one got away with that.

"I 'went wrong' because of _you_. _You_ and your failure to see the bigger picture. All you cared about were the jobs we had, what we really did, covering our arses, and staying underground, yet _he_ was the one who said we should go after the son, and _he_ was the one who lead us into this mess. And you all. Blame. Me."

"Because _you_ can't keep your hands to yourself and you do _not_ know when to stop!"

"I'd had enough of your _bullshit_ about art and secrets and all your goddamn rules! You had no real goal in mind, did you? At least I had a _plan_. I had _ideas_ and you had nothing."

There was a short silence then Tobi stepped forwards. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Shisui raise his palm by his waist, telling the others to stay where they were. I inwardly nodded understanding this as an information opportunity that they seemed to have no issues in sharing.

"You don't learn, do you?"

Pein's hands must have tightened, and while we couldn't see it, the way Orochimaru's hand came to his throat was an obvious indication at just how tight that hand really was.

"You don't see it our way. You've never seen it our way. While Sasori and Deidara may have made a few mistakes, you have undermined our very authority. You tried to turn our members against us, but did you not stop to think that maybe there was something a little off with how they were treating you? How everyone else was treating you? Sasori and Deidara were never on your side, Orochimaru. We have disagreed with your ways for a very long time, and thanks to your mistakes we now know that you are at the epicentre of everything that has gone wrong these last few years. If you can't fix what you broke then you know what happens."

"You wouldn't dare," he snarled.

"Oh wouldn't we?"

"You're not the only one with that talent," Pein continued after Tobi. "You're not the only one with the knowledge and it won't take long to build the others up to your skill level. You know this, yet you still abuse your privileges. You are easily replaced. You are not the director of our movements as much as you like to think you are. You are not going to bring Akatsuki back to its former glory. You are not going to get Sharingan Protection off our back. All you are going to do is make more mistakes, work behind our backs, involve _children_ - and that is something we cannot allow."

Orochimaru somehow managed to laugh despite his current position. "Not going _soft_ are we, Pein?"

The fingers tightened. Orochimaru struggled, both hands now at his neck, trying to pry away the death grip.

"I don't know the _meaning_ of the word 'soft' and you know it. These children know too much and are getting in the way. Their heads have grown far too big and they like talking a little too much. You are fully aware of your mistakes. How do you plan on fixing them?"

"I – I can... If you let me... go..."

The fingers loosened briefly. I was a little disappointed.

"You don't understand what that boy can give us, do you?"

"If you mean Itachi's brother then no, no we don't, and if that's your plan then we'll pass you over to this lot now and let them do what they wish with you. I'm sure Fugaku will be overjoyed to see you."

"_Especially_ if you mean Itachi's brother, _my_ cousin, and _his_ son," Shisui said, voice low and menacing.

"And what if I don't mean him? What if I mean the blonde one – the _feisty_ one?"

"Then you'll have me to answer to," Jiraiya growled. "He has nothing to do with this!"

"Oh but he has everything to do with it. If he hadn't opened his big mouth and told that boyfriend of his then none of this would have happened. Don't you see, Jiraiya?" Orochimaru wrenched Pein's hand away from his throat and turned to Naruto's still-restrained uncle. "Everything was going perfect. Sharingan didn't know where we were, I was safe in the bubble of blackmail I created and I had _plans_. Then he just had to ruin it, didn't he? He had to tell your spineless, _murdering,_ wife and start this whole mess. He got himself involved! He told the Uchiha, Tsunade grew some balls and forced you to do the same, and then everything fell apart because of _him_. This is _all. His. Fault_."

A disbelieving silence followed during which everyone stared at Naruto except me. I could feel his blunt nails digging in as he gripped my shoulder tightly, biting in harder with every word that came out of Orochimaru's filthy mouth. I could hear him whispering under his breath, pleading Jiraiya not to react, to just accept it as lies.

He really was a sly snake, wasn't he? He slithered between everyone, making false friends with his false smiles, denying anything that could taint his name and stabbing people in the back left, right, and centre, blaming anyone on hand for his own shortcomings.

But he was right about one thing: Naruto.

Naruto was a mistake he hadn't counted on _becoming_ a mistake. He thought he could do what he liked because he was safe, thanks to blackmailing Tsunade. He thought he could wrangle his way to the top of Akatsuki by using me in some twisted way and he probably hadn't thought for a second that Naruto would tell me and I would take it this far. The fact that it had been an accident was completely beside the point.

So if Orochimaru was what set things moving downhill for the Akatsuki, then Naruto was the one who tipped it against Orochimaru. And that meant that whichever way it panned out, whatever in hell happened down there – no one was happy with him. Which was a comforting thought.

"I swear," Gaara growled under his breath, "If no one _does_ anything in the next thirty seconds, I'll –"

"Stay right where you are," Neji finished for him, his voice gentle but still full of warning.

And I'm sure Gaara would've had a lot to say about that if Tayuya hadn't finally decided to have her say.

"I think it's high time you stopped blaming everyone else, you bastard. It will only get you so far up shit creek before you sink."

Someone snorted their amusement despite the overbearingly heavy atmosphere and I couldn't tell if it was in the room or from down below.

"Who are _you_?" Sasori spat.

I didn't need it to be broad daylight to know that a dangerous smirk was plastered across her face as she said, "Me? I've been working for this arsehole for years. Call us a... 'backup group', if you like, in case a situation like this arises. We were sent to New Zealand to create a new branch, somewhere for him to run to when the Akatsuki Company went under." She tilted her head, and the fact that her arm was currently wrapped around Jiraiya's neck in a headlock and hand covering his mouth to keep him quiet meant she looked much more threatening than usual. "Oh? You didn't know about us? Well, you left him in charge of a few too many things, didn't you, metal head?"

Then several things happened at once and Sakura let out a tiny, petrified squeak as I realised I would have perfect finger-shaped bruises on my shoulder from Naruto's hand.

Pein was pinning Orochimaru's arms behind his back as Tobi was in front, the glint of a shiny dagger reflecting the security lights and spitting, "You _will_ learn your place."

I only just heard it over the sound of light footsteps, everyone changing positions at once. Kakashi and Iruka were crouched at the ready, Kakashi behind Tobi and Iruka behind Pein. If my two teachers were at the north and south of the Akatsuki members, then Haku and Zabuza were at the east and west, surrounding them in a perfect square. My eyes couldn't miss the glint of silver in Haku's hands. But Sasori and Deidara moved as well, followed by Shisui, Tayuya and Jiraiya, and it became like a ripple of water in a pond, everyone surrounding the three in the middle in their own circle as more people stepped out of the shadows.

Half of them were in black and red coats identical to those Tobi and Pein were wearing, shrouded in shadows while the other half of them were dressed entirely in black to become the shadows themselves. I didn't even need to think to know who was who.

In half a second the entire situation had changed. In half a second I found myself wondering how many people were going to survive this. In half a second everything came crashing down.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that. We want him alive."

It was a voice I didn't recognise and so far I'd only been able to go on recognition because there was no way I could see people's mouths moving, so there was only one person it could be; the man in the baggy tan pants, tight white top, and mask, hand resting almost innocently on a sizeable weapon strapped to his back that had Gaara leaning forward with interest: Zabuza.

"We don't."

"We don't care what you want." That was Kakashi, no doubt about it. A very _serious_ Kakashi, which was something we weren't exactly used to, but Kakashi all the same.

"What if we said that we want Sasori to make you all part of his 'collection'?"

"We'd say good luck with that," Haku said in a smartarse voice that somehow managed to make him sound cold, angry, twice his age, and twice as dangerous.

"Oh would you now?"

Something glinted in Iruka's palm as his hand moved slowly from something at his waist to out in front. "Yes, we would. Now let him go."

Pein laughed a hollow, disturbing laugh and Sakura took a step backwards. "I think you should tell them, Sasori."

Sasori folded his arms and could barely see his shoulders shake as he no doubt chuckled to himself. Sakura took another step back, letting go of my hand. "Do you really think so?"

Tobi nodded and Orochimaru made a sound of distress. "Oh, I think so."

The redhead began to walk towards Haku, who was the closest to him, and said in the most bone-chilling voice I had ever heard, "First, I tear out the organs."

Something thudded behind us, but I couldn't take my eyes away, not even as Gaara began to growl low in his throat.

"Once I've washed it clean, I drain all of the blood."

Naruto made a small sound in the back of his throat. Gaara's growling grew louder. I saw Neji put a hand to his mouth and heard Shikamaru's footsteps behind me.

"After I've made sure it won't decay, I fill it with weapons, traps – whatever I choose, whatever we need – and make its addition official." (1)

In the stunned silence that followed, I heard Sakura's shaky whisper, "That's what he said. That's exactly what he said to me. He – oh God. Oh God. He's... he's going to..."

None of us spoke as she drifted off. We _couldn't_. From down below, I heard Deidara mutter a "Beautiful..." that was only audible because the silence was one of those dead ones where not even then wind dared interrupt. It was almost like we were being given time for it to sink in. Much like when Shisui had explained everything to me – it didn't.

"Are we done with all the theatrics, then?" my cousin said in an offhand, bored voice.

Jiraiya snorted and it made me wonder if he was the one who'd done it before as well. "They're the Akatsuki Performing Arts Company. They're _never_ done with the theatrics."

As if on cue, everyone wearing a black and red coat in the shadows tensed, glints of silver reflecting in their hands or on their backs. And it was somewhat like a typical gang war movie that we'd been thrown into unwillingly, this 'watching from the sidelines' business. Everyone was just a little too far up to be centre, but at least they were visible, and it just made it seem like a play. This was the real entertainment for the night and our performances had just been an entrée of sorts.

I didn't even know Sakura wasn't behind me anymore until there was an ear-piercing scream from the opposite side of the room and a heart-stopping _crunch_ as something connected with a very solid object. Thankful my eyes had adjusted to the dark by now, I snapped my head to the left and saw her standing by the hard wood desk in the corner, chest heaving as she dragged air into her lungs, her eyes wide and wild, glowing in the faint light shining up from the car park below.

"Why is this happening? _Why_? What did we do? Why do _we_ have to sit here and listen to this when they're _right down there_? What's going to happen once they've settled all their scores or whatever else they were whinging about? _We shouldn't be here_!"

Naruto was beside her in half a second and in the silence that followed as we all stared, I chanced a glance down through the window and saw Sasori and Deidara grinning disturbingly. Directly at us.

"Looks like we have some eavesdroppers," Sasori smirked.

Sakura was hyperventilating, but I knew she was far angrier than scared. She was a controlling person by nature – we all were except Naruto and Shikamaru – and she didn't like having her feet ripped out from under her and be forced to sit, wait, listen, and watch everything happen but be unable to take part and get her own revenge for her experiences. She was over being scared. I think we all were. We were over it all; this whole, messed up, ridiculously dangerous, and unbelievable situation.

My eyes were frozen as Sasori and Deidara slowly began to step backwards out of the circle, staring up at our window the entire time. Orochimaru was released with a harsh push and, by the sound of his grunt of pain, probably a kick to the neck from Tobi.

Pein let him go at the same time and Orochimaru was shoved to the side with a mocking, "Time for you three to fix your mistakes, I think."

Tobi chuckled. "And anyone that came along with them."

My stomach dropped.

There was a thud and a crack simultaneously from somewhere close by.

Shisui, Jiraiya and Kakashi moved too fast and the people in the surrounding circles stepped closer, too many weapons now visible to count. Shisui was shouting something, I couldn't hear properly above the scuffle of feet and the blood pounding in my ears. I couldn't see what was happening because everyone was moving too fast but the sounds alone told me enough and I realised that in a way I didn't _want_ to see it, but at the same time I had to.

Naruto was forcing me to turn around and Neji did the same to Gaara. Sakura was standing by the wall with her fist pressed to it, several cracks splintering outwards as she growled in the most determined, angry, and _threatening_ voice I'd ever heard her use, "They come within _ten feet_ of me and they die. I don't care what they do to other people; they're not doing it to me."

Shikamaru was in the middle of the room, fingertips pressed together, scowling at the carpet, and on the way past I gripped his arm tightly and told him that in situations like these you didn't _think_, you just _did_. One of us pulled the door open with more force than was necessary and the _slam_ it made when it connected with the adjacent wall made us all flinch. We were all breathing heavily. We'd all shed our masks of calm indifference that we were trying desperately to hold on to before, and were left raw and terrified. We didn't know which way to go. We didn't know what to do. It was exactly how I'd described it to Haku: we were left on our arses in the middle of the road with no idea how we got there and no idea where to go.

We stared at each other, completely blank, and Naruto's grip on my hand grew painfully tight. I realised absently that I was probably doing exactly the same to Shikamaru's arm. But it was jerked out of my grip and I looked into fierce eyes as he scowled at us all.

"We're not moving."

A short, stunned, and confused silence.

"Shika," Sakura said lowly, "we have to. They're –"

"No," he interrupted, completely resolute.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I sort of like living so I'm opting for the _let's run_ idea. _Now_."

Shikamaru's fist hit the wall and Gaara put the foot he'd lifted back to the ground, every one of us staring with wide eyes at the normally disinterested kid. "We will stay here because we were told to. If we run and they find us, there's no way anyone is going to know where we are. They've probably thought about this. They couldn't have guaranteed we were going to be quiet as the dead, pardon the analogy, and would have accounted for every possible situation. So we stay here; we wait."

I blinked, kicking myself mentally for being so _stupid_ as to not think of it myself. It was obvious. It was what everyone was taught from their very early childhood. If you get lost, stay where you are. While we weren't lost, we _had_ been told to stay, and if we moved we were as good as dead. Gaara didn't seem to see it that way, but Neji shut him up with a stern look and a low growl in the back of his throat.

Naruto nodded, for once catching on fast enough, and said, "Then we stay in the room. I'm not staying in the hall. There's only one way they can get into that room unless they can fly, and while I'm not totally ruling it out, I highly doubt they can."

Everyone nodded and Neji dragged Gaara inside after us, but before we could close the door a hand appeared in between the frame and the door and Sakura screamed before Naruto could slam a hand over her mouth.

"Sasuke? Sasuke! Was that you?"

I could have fainted in relief, but covered it with a quick scowl and wrenched the door open. "Hell _no_ that wasn't me, and –"

"What the _fuck_ is happening?"

Gaara had pounced as soon as he'd seen my brother, someone he recognised and deemed safe enough to abuse, and his hands gripped the front of Itachi's jacket as he got right up into his face.

"You all know what's happening," Itachi said in his calm, blank voice. The voice he used when he was either about to sna, or he was being normal for once. I prayed to everything up there in every religion that it was the latter.

"Where are –"

"And it would be much appreciated if you were to remove your hands. I don't like confrontation."

I lifted an eyebrow at that, but then there were heavy footsteps from down the hall and Kisame and some tall, thin man with faded blue-ish hair came barrelling around the corner. My brother grabbed me and Gaara by the backs of our collars with a grunt and began half dragging, half leading us around corners and down hallways and through backrooms until we were outside. I did my best to keep up, wildly reached out a hand behind me as I heard Naruto's distressed heavy breathing not far away, and relaxed a scary amount when I felt his hand clasp onto mine desperately, both running together.

There were loud voices coming from the main theatre and Tsunade's loud voice booming out something I couldn't remember. We passed Shizune at some point and she nodded to us as we ran out the door and into the car park at the opposite side of the building.

It all happened too fast. One second we were in the room on the second floor and the next we were being separated, and thrown none too gently into someone's car with the doors slammed shut behind us. Naruto, Shikamaru and Neji were in the other man's car, while Gaara, Sakura and I were in Kisame's. And saying that made me uncomfortable was the understatement of the century.

My mind was racing the whole way home, but it never managed to get far from Naruto before it was reeled back in and I was fidgeting uncomfortably in the back seat while Itachi gushed nonsense in the front seat, Gaara racked off a very long list of profanities under his breath, and Sakura was sandwiched between us with her knees brought up to her chest, all the fierceness from before long gone.

But Itachi was sane Itachi and he wasn't gushing but ranting. He was angry and that just made me more uncomfortable, because by the sound of things he knew exactly what happened in Akatsuki, and all he was pissed off about was that I had nearly been roped into it. All he was concerned about was me and what Orochimaru did. And he was _livid_. I heard Shisui's name dropped a few times but I couldn't tell if he was angry or not, my mind too full to pay attention to anything other than the nervous energy clawing at my stomach.

It was the night Shisui had spilled everything to me all over again. I couldn't think in full sentences and nothing made sense, but this time, instead of hating myself for not being able to do anything, I was hating myself because I _didn't_ do anything.

Every part of me screamed that there was nothing I possibly could have done short of going down there and getting the shit kicked out of me or quite likely killed, and that would've just made things messier than they already were.

And what was happening back there? What did Kakashi, Shisui and Jiraiya do when they suddenly flipped out? Were Sasori, Deidara, and Orochimaru looking for us? Was Orochimaru still around? What would they do with him?

"Stop it."

My eyes snapped over to Sakura and I narrowed them in question as she laid a delicate hand on my knee.

"Stop thinking. Thinking won't work. Nothing will work. It's not about us anymore – it never really was. We just spurred it into action and now it's an old rivalry. Thinking won't get anyone anywhere."

"But _doing_ will," Gaara scowled, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.

"There's nothing we _can_ do!"

"Shut up. All of you just shut up. You don't have a say in anything that happens anymore so just shut your mouths and get over it. It's between us, Sharingan and Orochimaru's mistakes, _not_ you, _not_ your petty little grudges, and if you try and _make_ it about you, I'll personally see to it that you don't get in the way anymore."

Itachi said nothing, just squared his shoulders like he agreed with his boyfriend's words. Definitely sane Itachi, then. Sane and cold. Sane and angry. Sane and rational. But then I saw a hand appear alongside the passenger door and reach around behind, and I took it in my own, our pale skin matching. For some reason my heart calmed a little and nothing seemed as frantic.

The ride home was shorter than I'd remembered and we were dumped unceremoniously, all of us at mine and Itachi's house. Itachi spared me a glance and a squeeze of the hand before Gaara slammed the door closed and they were gone and Naruto was in my arms and squeezing the life out of me as his body shook.

"Did you have any idea?" he whispered as the others let themselves inside after I threw the key to Shikamaru.

I shook my head and replied, "No..." into his hair.

"Would you still have done it?"

I set my jaw and forced out the absolute truth. "Yes."

His arms tightened.

---

I didn't know how late it was when we finally stumbled into bed. Sakura had decided she didn't want to be on her own so she took our spare room almost the second we walked in the door, giving us all a subdued 'goodnight', and slamming the door in Naruto's face. I didn't think Shisui would be coming home tonight anyway.

I sat outside her door for a while, not willing to try and make conversation with the others like Naruto was doing. I couldn't get my mind off my cousin and my brother. _Especially_ my brother. He was back there, back at that theatre, and I had no way of knowing what was happening. I'd been hoping against hope that Itachi would stay in that confused, childish mood, because once he joined in, where did that leave Shisui? Did Shisui overlook Itachi or treat him as just another Akatsuki member? But Itachi was the one that had been taken from Sharingan, so which side was he even _on_?

My father had gone after the Akatsuki because they'd stolen his son and turned him inside out and back to front – so what did that make him? He was still an Uchiha, insane or not, and he was a part of our family despite how much our parents denied it and that Itachi didn't remember it. But he had gone back to the battlefield, if you will, and that made me nervous.

Same appeared out of the shadows at the hallway's end and slowly stalked up to me with wide, curious eyes. He sat down a couple of feet away, not quite close enough to pet, and the curious look turned to accusation as his tail swished angrily behind him.

I sighed. "I don't know where he is either, cat."

I looked up as I heard the front door close and footsteps pad quietly up to me, seeing Naruto looking exhausted out of his mind but trying to hide it with an empty, lop-sided smile.

"Tem just picked up Shikamaru and the other two lovebirds have gone back to Neji's," he said quietly as he sat down, leaning against the wall next to me.

I just nodded, thankful for his presence as Same turned his back on me and retreated into the shadows again like the freaky cat he was.

Naruto bent his knees halfway and slung his arms over them, nodding his head behind me at Sakura's door and murmuring, "Is she asleep?"

I paused, listening for a moment before answering. "No, not yet."

He nodded with a grim smile and a thoughtful silence stretched out between us. It got too unbearable too quickly – I'd had too much silence from Naruto for too long – and before I could stop myself I was resting my head on his shoulder and whispering, "Sorry..." in exhaustion.

His hand found mine. "It doesn't matter. It's over now anyway."

I shook my head with a hard frown. "It's not over until they all come home."

I could hear Naruto's heartbeat speed up as he answered in a no-room-for-argument voice, "They will."

I wanted to believe him, but I'd never been one for optimism. I'd seen what kind of people they were, and while I felt relatively confident about Shisui because he _knew_, Itachi would probably have a timely breakdown, forget it all right in the middle of it, and get himself killed by cosying up to someone who didn't know who he was. Or he would just go crazy eyes and I would fear for everyone _else_'s lives. Especially Shisui's.

But maybe he would come out of this alive, maybe he would be fine – but then what? Tobi and Pein had sent Orochimaru, Deidara, and Sasori after us to 'fix their mistakes', yet my brother, Kisame, and some random guy, who were _part_ of the Akatsuki, let us go. I couldn't imagine them taking kindly to that, unless there was something I didn't understand.

And Naruto had his aunt and uncle, a woman kinder than his aunt was, and a man who was practically his father, who were all involved. What I felt was only a small portion of what he must've been feeling.

But somehow he managed to gently lift my head up and smile at me and tell me we would disturb Sakura so let's go to bed. Somehow he managed to convince me that brushing my teeth and getting changed mattered. Somehow he managed to make me take my stage make-up off and get concerned over the faint bruise below my eye. Somehow he managed to ignore the two very large and very packed bags at the foot of my bed.

I couldn't.

This 'love' business is all very corny, isn't it?

"Sasuke..." he murmured as he curled up to me, head on my chest and arm thrown around my waist.

"Mm?"

"I... I missed you, y'know."

I blinked, tightening the arm I had around his shoulders.

"And I mean it, too. I really... I really do love you."

I frowned. He said it like he didn't believe me. I narrowed my eyes. I did _not_ go all sappy and romantic on him in the middle of all _that_ and in front of an entire theatre for him to just not believe me.

I gently tugged on his shoulder until he was on his back and I was hovering above him, propped up on my elbow. I let my other hand rest against his hipbone, thumb caressing the skin that his t-shirt had revealed when it rode up. I said with my eyes that I missed him too, because somehow it felt wrong to voice something so trivial in the midst of what was happening around us, and whispered "I love you too," against his lips, like if I said it too loud then someone would come and scold me for being selfish when there was a high possibility my brother wasn't coming home tonight.

But when I felt his hot breath whisper, "I know," and when our lips met for the first time in too long, I found I really couldn't have cared less about what anyone else said. Because Naruto was mine again and I'd been craving this.

Kissing him at the play had been nice, but this was something else entirely. This was what I'd been missing. This was the touch I wanted. This was what we both needed. His breath was hot against my lips and his hands at my waist, bunched in my oversized shirt. His lips were just as curious as before, but this time a little more demanding, like he was a bit pissed off with me. His skin was smooth under my palms as I pressed them to his sides and I felt the shiver as my tongue traced his lips, instantly allowed in. It was slow and it was amazing and it was _Naruto_. Finally.

But when one of his fingers traced up my side and lead the rest to grip my hair tightly, I knew that something wasn't right.

I pushed against his hand and pulled my head back to look at him with narrowed eyes, and saw that his were narrowed in a look that I was at a loss to describe. He wasn't happy, that was for sure, but he wasn't angry either. He seemed torn between the two, confused and frustrated – lost, almost.

"Naruto...?" I didn't know what to make of it.

He pursed his lips and I withdrew my hand enough so that it was back to resting innocently on his hip. Our legs were tangled, but I liked the warmth and I knew he did to, so I didn't move them.

"I want you to promise me something."

I felt a flicker of... _something_, and I found myself pleading that he wouldn't ask me to stay because I knew I wouldn't have been able to refuse him. Tense, I nodded my head.

"Don't do that again."

"...Sorry?"

"Don't keep me out of things that I'm directly involved in, even if you think it's for my own good or you're just being selfish or whatever – just don't." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "I know... I know that you couldn't have known trying to get Orochimaru back would turn into that insane mess, but it still started out with you and me and that's how it should have stayed. I took a big risk telling you my secret and I appreciate you returning the favour, but it didn't have to stop there." His eyes opened again and I could tell he was restraining from getting _too_ mad at me. "You know what? I don't even know what I'm saying. But, just... it hurts not to know, okay? Especially when it's not just... when it's _us_, you know?"

I sighed, my heart twisting painfully in my chest as I nodded slowly. I knew how it felt to be shut out and left behind like that.

"Only if you promise to not tell me to stop, whatever the circumstances, because I won't. I'm not saying that same thing is going to happen because if Shisui and my father have anything to say about it then it definitely won't, but... I don't know what's going to happen later on. Wherever I'll be."

He gave me a half-smile, clearly understanding what I was getting at, and suddenly pulled my arm out from under me and causing me to fall with a surprised 'oof' onto the mattress. He pulled me close in a sudden change of heart and pressed his head into the crook of my neck.

"I promise to let you be as much of a macho man as you want and I won't interfere when you take after your cousin and throw yourself in with people like Orochimaru and whoever else they were and nearly get killed because you're a stubborn bastard and wouldn't listen to me anyway."

I nodded, "Thank you," and chuckled through my nose as he snorted.

The silence lengthened, a hundred times more comfortable than the last few we'd been forced to sit through tonight, and to my surprise, his breath began to grow heavier with sleep. My mind was still frantic, my ears sharp for any sounds that would clue me in to either Shisui's or Itachi's arrival home, my heart rate picking up speed as I realised that this would be yet another long night full of staring at the cracks in the ceiling and trying not to claw my eyes out.

But Naruto put a hand on my chest and whispered, "Teme, don't stress. We're all safe and it's up to them now. I promise you'll see them tomorrow."

I tilted my head at an awkward angle to look at him and asked, "What about you?"

He shrugged and yawned. "I'll go back home tomorrow and see them. They're tough, they'll be fine."

And he said it with such _confidence_, absolutely no doubt in his words, that I momentarily wished that I could have a little of his resolute faith in people. Sometimes I thought my family's superiority complex had rubbed off on me because I always had this idea in my head that if I couldn't do it then no one else could. I had to keep reminding myself that every single person out there was more than capable and try to ignore the fact that Itachi was insane and had a habit of forgetting where he was.

I stroked Naruto lightly on the top of his head, stiffening when he murmured something that sounded distinctly like a sleep-laced, "Stay here," into my chest.

Suddenly the back of my head began to ache and I knew that I definitely wouldn't be sleeping tonight. But eventually the sun came peeking through the gaps between the curtains in all its pathetic paleness and I got too restless to lie there any longer as my thoughts came in full circle for at _least_ the thousandth time.

Carefully, I eased my arm out from where Naruto had confiscated it during the night and moved off the bed as slowly as I could without it being painful. I rearranged the spare blanket around Naruto's shoulders because, being the geniuses we were, we slept on top of the doona, and made my way silently out of the room.

I turned to walk towards the far end of the hall before heading to the kitchen, where I'd originally planned to go, and stopped outside Sakura's door to make sure she'd managed to fall asleep eventually. Satisfied with the deep breathing I could hear, I very hazily made my way back down the hall and into the kitchen, pushing my palms against the edge of the sink and leaning forwards heavily.

Itachi's room had been silent. He hadn't come home yet.

And I sincerely hoped I really could tack that 'yet' onto the end of that sentence.

I got myself a glass of water almost mechanically, staring out the window at the dull grey sky with only the first beginnings of sunlight hitting the trees in pale, faded patches.

I hated sunrises.

I could hear the blood pounding in my ears and my thought crashing around in my head because nothing got up early in winter. There were no birds and no animals. It was dead.

And when the silence was broken by the click of the front door I jumped a mile, sprinting out of the kitchen and dropping the glass with a loud _smash_ in the process. I stopped thinking properly the instant Itachi gave me a blank look as he closed the door behind him, and didn't think at all when I ran the small distance and practically launched myself at him in a way that would've been mortifying if anyone had seen and reminded me of when I was six. Luckily Sakura and Naruto slept like the dead and I wrapped my arms around my brother tightly as he awkwardly returned the gesture.

"You _arsehole_," I growled, pulling back and punching him solidly in the arm. "You had me worried _sick_. What did you think you were doing, going back there? And with no explanation! You could've fucking _died_ and I wouldn't have any idea what you were doing or why or _anything_."

He just looked at me with that blank stare, eyes completely empty.

My eyes darted between each of his, searching for a response and a sinking feeling settling in the pit of my stomach. "Itachi...? What happened?"

He winced, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes and leaned back against the door. "I don't know, Sasuke. I don't... Too much... I don't understand why – _why_ he..."

I put a hand on the arm I'd punched. "Why…?"

Itachi squeezed his eyes shut tighter before opening them and giving me a look that sent child down my spine.

"Sasori's dead."

And in the shocked but not surprised silence, he punched the door behind him as he pushed himself off it, making his way to the bathroom with heavy steps and slamming the door.

And all I could think was 'I wonder what Sakura will say'.

* * *

**(1)** - Quote taken directly (well, that last line altered slightly) from _Naruto_ episode 240. I couldn't tell you what Shippuuden episode number it is, but both seasons combined its episode 240. Just saving my arse, here... **KL Lover** says it's episode 20 of Shippuden. Listen to her.

I'm really insanely sorry if that was devastatingly anticlimactic... there was nothing else I could think of doing that wouldn't involve more chapters and it getting more ridiculous than it already is.

D'aaw, and check out the brotherly love, yo. Isn't it beautiful? –shot-

But guess what? Next chapter is the last one!! ZOMGIKNOWWHUT?!HOSHIT!

Well, then the epilogue, so I guess it's two but still --!! Wow. It's sorta... strange to think about... Well it's been a freakin' long time coming, that's for sure. Anyway, I'll say it all after the epilogue so~.... until next week! Hope you can hold on! Mwahaha.

Reviews loved and devoured and cherished and pinned up on my wall. Well okay, maybe not pinned up on my wall, but it's the thought that counts, right? I love you?

XD

~WY


	26. An Apple A Day

Hello all

Uh... Last chapter... oh goodness. -wrings hands nervously-

You know, I've discovered I'm not so fantastic at this whole 'staying healthy' thing.

GIANT THANK YOU to **KL Lover** for keeping up the amazing and fixing a lot of dodgy things with this chapter and keeping me from floundering in sickness (again)^^ -cuddles-

And as there is still an epilogue, I shall save all my blubbering for then, so until next week...

**Previous disclaimers apply.**

* * *

26. AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY

If I had to sum up this morning in one word, I would say 'strange'. It wasn't what _happened_ that was strange, but the feeling that was strange; it was so thick you could choke on it. And it wasn't even the single kind of weighty feeling either. It was this blank sort of nothingness mixed with confusion, relief, disbelief, anxiousness, and whole lot of other things with a distinct layer of _take that_.

Well, in my mind at least, I don't know about the others.

To me, they had it coming. They could screw around, disguising what they did as 'art' or whatever Orochimaru had called it, and they could hide all they liked, but anyone who thought they could do it forever hadn't met my father. Or pissed him off. Or _anyone_ in our family, for that matter. Except maybe my mother, because you know, she was a little pathetic like that.

Orochimaru had thought he was so safe in all his lies and now he was either dead, in a cell, or on a private plane to New Zealand, but he wasn't coming anywhere near Naruto, me, or Itachi ever again. I kind of felt like I missed out, though. I should've punched him in the face one last time.

Sasori was dead and I didn't feel bad in the slightest. If he tried to kill Sakura then it's what he deserved and I don't care what Naruto would tell me about judging the deceased because the freak got what was coming to him.

I didn't know about Deidara, Tobi, and Pein, but I could only hope that Deidara had gone the same way as Sasori, and Tobi and Pein had gone the same way as Orochimaru. My father had to have had at least _some_ fun in all this. Couldn't leave it all up to Shisui, now.

Yes, there was definitely a strong sense of 'take that'.

I'd been sitting at the kitchen bench for the last hour, watching the light change angles within the broken glass on the floor as the sun rose and trying to feel even the tiniest bit bad about last night, if only so that Naruto wouldn't think I was _completely_ heartless. I couldn't. I tried to ignore that dark blue envelope sticking out from under the fruit bowl, too. That was even harder.

Everything seemed to be passing in a haze these days, because I didn't even notice when Sakura walked in for breakfast and told me in a deadpan voice to clean up the glass on the floor. It took me a while to register that I'd done as she said. The whole time I was either looking at that envelope or listening out for the door, waiting for Shisui to come home.

I know that Naruto came in shortly after, scruffy and adorable in his half-awake state, but only because he wrapped his arms around my waist at some point and whispered, "He'll be back soon. I promise," into my ear.

I made a half-arsed attempt at telling Sakura about Sasori, but apparently I'd woken the both of them up when I dropped the glass earlier on and they'd heard everything. It just made their behaviour all the weirder. I didn't feel like eating, even as Sakura and Naruto ate around me and laughed together, for some reason able to function normally. Maybe it was because I hadn't slept or because I was still waiting on one more family member – but Naruto still didn't know about _his_ family, so why couldn't I just put it behind me like him?

Because I was the type of person to hold on to things and keep it all in, as Naruto had told me so often. I always had to have confirmation. I couldn't go on this half-arsed notion of anything; it always had to be _there_. So I wouldn't relax until Shisui stepped through that door and told me for certain that Orochimaru was gone and so were the rest of them. I could believe it all I liked and have some extent of confidence in my cousin's abilities, but I knew I wouldn't actually put it behind me until I _knew_.

Itachi forced me out of my three-day-long moping though, because there was no way I could ignore that ear-piercing shriek that came from the open bathroom door.

I was up and out of my seat in a flash, sprinting down the hall, barely having the time to see a stunned Sakura standing by the door before Itachi came barrelling into me and rambling about all sorts of nonsense.

"Who is she and what the hell is she doing in our house?!"

I put both hands on his shoulders to calm him down. "She's my friend and she's here because she stayed the night. We're getting ready for school." I think. I didn't really feel like going.

He frowned, one arm waving behind him in Sakura's general direction. "Well I don't want her here, whoever she is."

"But she has to be here."

"Get her out."

"Itachi…" I said warningly, giving him a stern look as he returned it threefold.

"…Fine," he said shortly. "I'm going to my room. Leave me alone."

When he didn't move, I raised an eyebrow at him. He raised one of his own.

"Well… go on then…"

There was a tiny pause in which he just stared at me intensely, before he tilted his head thoughtfully and said under his breath, "It's good you're still here."

I had a feeling I knew what he was talking about and that feeling was what put an annoying smile on my face. Even if it was somewhat arrogant in a way and almost invisible. But then his index and middle fingers came from nowhere and were jabbing me in the forehead exactly where he'd done it yesterday and he was in his room with the door slammed shut tightly less than a second later.

Ow.

I could see Naruto standing just outside the kitchen wearing a look that plainly read 'well that was lucky', turned to glance at Sakura, and gestured that she could go in now. She just gave me a big grin and disappeared into the room. That made me frown uncomfortably. I shook my head at her weird change from last night and headed back to sit at the kitchen to wait for her to get out.

I did my best to answer Naruto's attempts at conversation, but my mind was so far away it was hard to concentrate, and all I could do was flick the dark blue envelope between my fingers and try not to think too hard. Thinking too much about things was what got us where we were and for once I sort of wanted to just _do_ something, without the hour long logical thought process beforehand.

Naruto's elbows rested on my shoulders as he leaned over me, peering at the object I was holding that for some reason felt so much heavier than it should have.

"What's that?" he asked quietly.

I frowned, pressing my lips together. Naruto's weight was comfortable. The sounds of Itachi in his room were familiar. It was nice, if not a little odd, that Sakura was here.

"Nothing," I answered evenly.

He rested his cheek on the top of my head. "Really?"

I made a sound of agreement, leaning back against him slightly as I confirmed, "Really."

He sighed. "If you say so."

I said so. It was nothing.

And I didn't think about it.

Naruto stepped away with a quick kiss to my cheek and said, "We have forty-five minutes for all of us to get ready without killing each other – what do you want to eat?" as he made his way around the other side of the bench.

I shook my head. "I don't."

"Yes you do."

"Naruto…"

"Where's the ramen?"

"There is none."

"What?!"

"We don't eat it."

"I do!"

"So?"

"So you're supposed to keep it stocked for _me_."

"Well I don't."

"Teme."

Dobe."

He leaned closer throughout the argument-of-sorts and now he was smirking right in my face as I thought that really, only _he_ could be fussed about the lack of ramen at a time like _this_. But he just giggled in that way of his that said he thought something was hilarious but he wasn't going to tell you what and gave me the most fleeting kiss on the lips.

All I could do was raise an eyebrow in question.

He shrugged and turned to get out a bowl of cereal. "I don't need a reason for everything, do I?"

I tilted my head. He had a point.

Silently, I got to my feet and came up behind him as he rummaged in the cupboard for something else to feed me and placed both hands on his hips. He froze immediately, the slightest shiver running through his body as I whispered in his ear, "Then I hope I don't need a reason to do this?"

I kissed just below his ear as he answered quietly, head falling back to my shoulder, "No…"

Slowly, painfully slowly, I turned him around so we were face to face, chest to chest, and pushed him backwards until I was pressing him hard against the bench. I leaned in close, lips barely brushing as I paused just to look into his eyes, trying to see how he _really_ felt beyond that false happiness he always put forward and saw everything he was afraid of. And judging by the sharp intake of breath right before I pushed our lips together, he'd seen it in mine, too.

It felt different to last night, the almost-desperation radiating from both of us changing it somewhat. Naruto's hands gripped my hair like he was too afraid to let go and I gripped his hips like I was too afraid of _him_ letting go, the pain in my head that was still hanging around feeling somewhat more bearable when it was Naruto causing it.

Our lips pressed hard against each other, the kiss growing in intensity when my tongue slipped into his mouth, his fingers tightening as I pushed closer in to him, putting everything I could into the kiss.

My hands were at his waist, feeling his smooth stomach, and within moments he groaned into me, our hips pressing together of their own accord. One hand loosened its painful grip as we broke apart to breathe in sharply, only to appear at my waist, slipping down to grip my backside and force our hips together at the same time as attacking my lips again.

I growled into the kiss quietly, both at the delicious friction and at the way he tried to fight against me, and pushed against him with my tongue as our hips met again. God, the way this was headed we were going to get off in the kitchen before the day had even started.

So I pulled away with every intention of stopping it even though my body was screaming at me not to even dare _think_ about it, but found I was too enticed by the smooth, tanned skin of his neck to let it go untouched.

I ducked my head and pressed soft kisses, licks and nips to his skin, realising that there was nothing about him I didn't love in some way or another, and the sounds he was making were just the beginning. For the first time, someone really made me _feel_ something that wasn't this overwhelming urge to break things, preferably them.

He used the break to breathe properly and gasp out, "They'll come back, won't – _ah_ – they? A-All of them?"

Both of my hands moved around to the small of his back, pulling him away from the bench so I could hold him properly, and I looked down at him. I didn't know what I expected to see, but that look, that totally _broken_ look wasn't it.

"No one's called, Sasuke…" he whispered, both hands travelling to rest on my hips.

I kissed him again, softer this time, and pulled back just long enough to say, "You'll see them today. I promise," before diving back in and taking his lips again.

We moved slowly, all the desperation from before gone and leaving behind an almost sadness, but I could feel a smile forming on his lips as we kissed. And instead of not _looking_ like a fake one, this one didn't _feel_ fake. Which was new.

But, of course, the inevitable small noise of distress that came out like a squeak, made us separate quickly, turning to look at a very embarrassed Sakura standing at the entrance to the kitchen with a hand over her mouth.

Naruto bit his lip to hide a grin, his eyes back to their liveliness of before.

I nudged him with my knee.

"Uh… the… the bathroom's free… if you want it…"

I nodded and took the liberty of kissing Naruto quickly once more, if only to reassure him, before pulling away with a very controlled breath and firm steps, heading past a furiously blushing Sakura.

I still heard that mutter of "Perverts," though.

I shook my head and smirked as I grabbed my stuff from my bedroom and headed to the shower, feeling more relaxed the longer I stood under the hot water (and believe me, I took my time). I felt lighter, in a way, I guess. Lighter because I'd done something without thinking. I'd made a decision purely on how I felt at the time. I would have to do that more often if it led to things like that.

So I didn't think. I didn't think about how Shisui still wasn't home. I didn't think about Sakura's dramatic change from how she'd been last night to now. I didn't think about how worried out of his mind Naruto must be and how infuriating it was that he always insisted on hiding it (because, you know, the word 'hypocrite' rings a bell there). I didn't think about how my brother would react to Sasori's death, or even if he _would_ react. I didn't think about just what in the hell would happen at school today.

And I tried, believe me I tried, not to think about how that devil's spawn of a cat got into the bathroom, or about the way he was just… _staring_. Because if what happened last night was unbelievable on so many levels, this was downright _creepy_.

Freakin' cats.

I was forced, by that stare, to get out of the shower and I stood there with the towel around my waist just looking at myself in the mirror for the longest time. Not in an I'm-so-sexy way, but in a… an I'm-so-different way. There was a faint bruise along my cheekbone that went to just below my eye, but it wasn't obvious enough to warrant attention. There were faint red marks along my right shoulder where Naruto had held on for dear life last night while we were watching everything unfold. And there was complete and utter _exhaustion_ in my eyes that was somehow mingled with relief and content.

I didn't know what that meant, so I hurriedly brushed my teeth with one eye on the time and dried my hair furiously, experimentally poking at the back of my head. Thanks to the way Naruto had aggravated it, it was more tender than usual. Great. All I needed now was Gaara to smack me one as soon as he saw me, the sadistic bastard.

With a heavy sigh I eventually got dressed, just pulling my t-shirt over my head as the door opened and in walked Naruto.

He smirked to himself as my head came free and said, "Damn, missed the show."

I kept my face carefully blank. "Hn."

He rolled his eyes, his hand coming out of nowhere and smacking me in the back of the head. I cursed at the burst of sharp pain and gave him a look that said, 'what the _fuck_ was that for?' all the while thinking who needs Gaara when a sadistic Naruto's around?

But he just laughed a little and muttered, "Awesome."

"_What's_ awesome?" I growled, wincing as I rubbed the sore spot.

"Ooh, nothing. Gaara was right, that's all."

I narrowed my eyes. Maybe they were _both_ sadistic.

"What do you want?"

He smiled then, truly smiled, and said quietly, "We have to go in a minute, and… Someone's here to see you."

I was out of the bathroom in a second, pushing past him without even a mumble of thanks, to see my cousin standing by the front door looking tired, exhausted, worn out - and any other similar adjective you cared to use. He was all of them. A complete mess.

He raised his hand in greeting, his face hidden by that typical Uchiha mask even in a situation like this, and let it fall heavily to his side. I just looked, not knowing what else to do. I didn't know what he had been through once we left, but it looked like hell. Physical and emotional hell.

I walked slowly down the hall, coming to a stop outside the kitchen and leaning carefully against the wall with my arms folded, just as Sakura came up beside me and said in a small voice, "Do you want us to wait outside?"

I nodded and she squeezed my shoulder as Naruto's hand ran along the small of my back on his way out in a way that made me want to pull him back and make him sit through this with me. It was his entire fault I was about to do this anyway.

But I let him pass with a nod of the head and waited until they'd grabbed their bags, bypassed Shisui, and closed the door behind them with a worried glance that I'm sure was meant to be reassuring or well-wishing or something, but didn't quite make it.

I dragged my eyes back to Shisui and cleared my throat awkwardly. "So…"

He laughed quietly, a forced exhale, and nodded. "So."

"What… what happened?"

He said nothing for a moment then suddenly pushed off the door in exactly the same way Itachi had and blew his fringe out of his eyes in frustration as he walked past me and into the spare room he'd stayed in. I turned to follow him, not really wanting to wait for an explanation but knowing that I would have to. If I'd been able to wait since we were rudely shoved into that car and forced to leave, I could wait another couple of minutes.

"If I was to tell you what happened we would be here for a year," he said shortly, pulling out bags harshly with no care for the fact that a probably very unstable Itachi was currently in the next room, asleep or not.

I watched him throw his stuff together as I demanded, "Shorten it for me."

He scoffed. "Shortening things like that is impossible."

"Then just answer my questions," I said with a frown.

He turned briefly to raise an eyebrow at me, face still shut away in that blank mask of exhaustion, and shrugged. "Fine. Ask away."

"Where's Orochimaru?"

"Not quite halfway to New Zealand."

"Where are Tobi and Pein?"

"Not far behind him."

"Where's Deidara?"

"Back with the Akatsuki."

"Back with them? You mean you – "

"I told you we would be here for a year if I explained it all."

I clenched my jaw and my fists. "Shisui. Explain it."

He zipped up his first bag and turned to glare at me. "There are things you won't understand until you're the one in charge of Sharingan, Sasuke. There are some things you have to do in order to achieve your initial goal. In this case it was creating a mock sort of alliance with them until we can provide more support for our case, because your father won't do anything without solid evidence, and Tobi and Pein have none of that on them. And Itachi… Itachi fought for them."

I blinked. That hadn't been expected, but it… it made sense in a way - sense in a way that meant I realised I _should_ have expected it. I unclenched my jaw.

"Okay, fine, then where are the others?"

"I don't know – back to wherever people like them go."

"No, I mean _ours_," I corrected firmly.

He looked surprised for a moment before his eyes grew dark and he turned back around, now throwing things into his second bag. "They're fine."

"You know, that's not exactly reassuring."

He shrugged. "They're tough. Iruka got hurt a little and Jiraiya's a bit messed up, but that's a given. The one who thought he could get away with smashing Haku's mask learned his mistake quick enough, and Zabuza… he's been trained well. He had to have been, considering where he comes from." Shisui paused a moment before shaking his head. "No, they're fine. Tayuya too. All of them."

I nodded. It would have to do. At least I had something to tell Naruto. "Why were we brought back here?"

I could see him clench his jaw from back here and immediately noticed the way he threw things more haphazardly and forcefully into his bag. "Because you kids couldn't keep your mouths shut. We had your brother, Kisame, and Hidan on standby because we knew we couldn't trust you, and the second Tobi and Pein sent them after you we had to have you out of there. We _told_ you to keep quiet because they _knew_ about you."

I tilted my head, confused. "But, how –?"

"Things get complicated when there are people on both sides, Sasuke. Very rarely is there a clear cut mark, especially when there's already such division within one group. You'll understand eventually, but I want you to know that sometimes you have to do things that go against everything you believe in, in order to get what you want."

I scowled. "I don't care about that. I want to know how on earth you managed to get Itachi involved and why."

"How? By that I'm assuming you mean how did he not forget it all every five seconds because of that niggly little problem called insanity? Fluke. Nothing more than a fluke that he was clear at the time." He sighed heavily. "Why? He's part of the Akatsuki, the reason your father targeted them in the first place. He was involved from the get go. That's all."

Again, that would have to do. I knew he wouldn't elaborate. For now, there was one last thing that had been bothering me as soon as Shisui had snapped last night and changed his whole front the second he saw that guy in the orange mask.

"Who's Tobi?" I asked, voice just above a murmur. I almost didn't want to know.

Shisui zipped up his last bag violently and lifted them both up with a grunt, saying through gritted teeth as he pushed past me, "There are things about our family that not even your _father_ knows."

Oh. Well… Excellent. Did that mean there was someone else to put on the family tree, or did it mean something else entirely? Something more sinister? Though, becoming a part of a family as charming as ours was pretty sinister in itself.

I glared down at my hands for a moment. And that's why I was doing this.

He turned to me at the door just as I looked up. "I guess I'll be seeing you next week, then. Well done, Sasuke. Last night and throughout this entire situation, you've shown true leadership that would make Tōsan proud."

He nodded once and opened the door.

I gritted my teeth. "Shisui?"

My cousin turned to me and instantly frowned, taking in my sudden nervousness. I was doing my best to hide it, but God it was hard. I was about to throw away everything I'd worked for, the whole reason I was still in school, the reason I tried my best, put up with my parents, put up with Itachi, turned myself into a cold emotionless wreck for so long just so I could stay focused. I was about to throw it all away, for… for what?

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes briefly.

For a different life, for an alternate ending, for something _I_ was in charge of.

I opened my eyes with new determination, slowly walking towards my somewhat confused cousin standing with bags in hand, and thanked whatever Gods were up there that there had been no sounds whatsoever from Itachi's room and I could safely assume he was asleep. It would just get messy if he was around.

Shisui watched me cautiously. "Sasuke? "

I frowned as he took a step towards me and shook my head, batting away the hand he tried to put on my shoulder and giving him a light shove out the open door. I saw Naruto, Sakura, and surprisingly, Shikamaru, talking on the footpath, turning as soon as they heard the door open.

I sighed. "Tell them… Tell them I couldn't be convinced."

He stumbled a little and blinked, turning to face me in plain surprise. But his expression changed immediately into a smirk as he glanced behind him and he shrugged his shoulders. "I'll do just that."

He was turning on his heel, stepping into Kisame's car as he said, "Thanks for the lift," and I watched my life drive away with him. But then Naruto was right in my face grinning like the madman he was and I realised that really, my life hadn't gone anywhere.

On a whim, I pulled him into a hug and said in his ear, "They're fine. I told you. But even if they weren't… I'd be here for you."

He laughed quietly. "Thanks, teme."

I shook my head and pulled away to look him directly in the eye, trying to ignore the way my heart beat faster. "No, I mean _here_. For _you_."

He blinked, tilted his head, looked behind him at the street Shisui had just disappeared down, turned back to me with wide eyes, and smashed our lips together much like earlier, kissing me senseless before pulling back to almost-shout, "You mean - ? You're really - ? Are you serious?!"

I nodded, trying not to smile too obviously. "Yeah."

"Gu- ju- but – _agh_! Woo!"

And he hugged me again, a little more enthusiastic than the last, in fact, a little _too_ enthusiastically.

Luckily Sakura invaded on our little moment and said, "Look, if you guys are going to snog each other's lights out again I'm going ahead."

Naruto laughed and let me go, but left his arm around my waist as he said, "Aw, wouldn't you enjoy the show?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes skyward, but I noticed that half-smile he sent my way as he looked back down and I found myself returning it hesitantly. He thought I'd made the right decision and that… that meant a lot to me.

Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto's remark, but couldn't stop the smile. "No, believe it or not, I don't think I would. Now stop being romantic and grab your stuff, Sasuke. We have people to see."

I narrowed my eyes, snapping my gaze over to her. "I've already gone romantic once, I sure as hell am not doing it again."

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh really? I beg to differ."

"Don't encourage him. He might have a heart attack from the strain of it all," Shikamaru said dryly, already starting to slowly head off towards school, Sakura trailing after a moment.

I scoffed and turned away from Naruto to go back inside and get my bag and an apple for Naruto because I knew he would still be hungry. "I am _not_ romantic," I grumbled when I came back out, throwing the apple to a delighted Naruto and hurrying ahead of them.

---

I'd gone through the first two classes feeling out of place, distant from everyone and whatever they were saying. I couldn't concentrate. It didn't feel right. Even though I'd chosen to be here, I didn't feel like I should be.

Because it's a funny thing to walk into a school full of so many people that had no idea what happened to the creepy drama teacher, the psychotic ceramics teacher, or the ever-so-charming metalwork teacher. Full of people who'd probably watched that comedy on television last night. People who'd had a decent sleep in their own bed. People who were excited about today being the last day. People who'd seen the play last night and left without a care. People who didn't have insane brothers, dangerous cousins, freaks who'd tried to kill them, aunts with blackmail issues, and uncles with old grudges.

Walking into the assembly and looking around, that was all I saw. Ignorant people who didn't know how lucky they were to have completely normal lives. For the people with completely _ab_normal lives, the strain from last night was evident.

Tsunade was standing up front and looking like she wanted to be as far away from there as possible. Her right wrist was covered in a bandage and she looked completely wrecked.

Iruka had always had a small scar on the bridge of his nose, but now he had a large, harsh red line that was painful just to look at and he was jumpy. Every time a teacher came up to him to presumably ask if he was okay, he jumped about a foot in the air and only calmed down when Kakashi put a hand on his arm.

Kakashi, of course, was perfectly fine if not a little tired, and stood a little closer to Iruka than was probably necessary.

Shizune was completely spaced out, standing beside Tsunade, and occasionally she would look surprisingly angry at nothing before schooling her face back into its blank expression.

Haku wasn't there.

The second we walked into the room, Naruto had run up to Tsunade and almost bowled her over with the ferocity of his hug before moving on to Iruka and Shizune. I shook my head with a smile, walking towards the back of the room to where the year tens were supposed to sit. Gaara, Neji, Shikamaru, and Sakura followed.

Gaara was snapping at anyone and anything that got in his way. Neji was permanently frowning, and not in his usual thoughtful way. Sakura still tried to keep up her good mood, telling us all that there was nothing to worry about anymore so why were we all so down? All she got were several blank stares. Getting a conversation out of Shikamaru had gone from improbable to impossible unless your name was Choji, and when Naruto came back he was wearing that horribly fake smile that I wanted to rip off the way I'd done this morning.

None of it was very surprising, except when Sakura suddenly jumped up and smothered Gaara in an enormous hug and said something in his ear, and he _didn't_ push her off. He couldn't wipe his smirk off his face after that, though, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what she'd told him, especially when he asked after Deidara. He looked a bit pissed off when Sakura couldn't give him an answer, but the smirk was still there.

Tsunade started the assembly in a shaky voice, something none of us in the hall were used to, but for us it sort of made things hit home. We certainly weren't the only ones affected, we hadn't thought that for a second, but things happened last night that we had no idea about and probably never would.

Our principal took a deep breath and looked out over the students, clearing her throat.

"There's not a lot to say, everyone, except thank you. Thank you to all the teachers who worked with us this term and will come back next term, and thanks to all of _you_, who made this term as enjoyable as the last. There's only one announcement to make, really, and that's that the three teachers that joined us last term won't be coming back."

Confused whispers went around the hall. We all either sat back, stared at the ceiling or at our hands, and waited to see how she would explain it.

"I'm sure all of you remember the three new art and technology teachers we had, yes?"

Oh, how could we forget?

"Well I don't know about you, but I never liked them, and they're not coming back. Your new teachers will be introduced next term and hopefully they're a lot nicer than the last ones."

Gaara snorted as some random in the crowd shouted, "Oh thank God!"

Tsunade let out a quiet laugh, barely picked up by the microphone. "That's basically all there is to say. Sorry for dragging you all out of bed for that. But - just… one more thing before you leave."

An expectant silence fell and Naruto subtly reached out for my hand.

"While this term may not have been the best for me as a principal, I learned a lot and I know all of you did too. So on your way out, especially you final years, for whom this assembly is the last, I want you to think about one person who has changed your life in these last three months or taught you something new, and then thank them if you can. If you're shy for whatever reason, I want you to at least think about it long and hard, and thank them in your own way. Better yet, you could overcome your fears and thank them outright. Just stand up and say it, don't… don't let that fear stop you from saying what you really want to."

There was a surprised and somewhat awed silence in which every single person took a moment to appreciate the words and the fact that for the first time in a _long_ time, our principal wasn't drunk at an assembly. Naruto squeezed my hand. Then a round of whispers began and everyone's heads turned to the back of the room as all the year twelve students stood up with a loud scrape of chairs and a messily-shouted, "Thank you, Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade blinked in astonishment for a moment before chuckling in a nervous way, grinning like a fool as she said, "And thank _you_. All of you." She looked around at us all, lingering a moment when she spotted me and Naruto. "You students really… really brought me to my senses recently…" An indescribable sadness crossed her features fleetingly before it was replaced by a stern glare. "Now I've had enough of being heartfelt and scaring the life out of you all! So get out of here, enjoy your break and don't come back with any broken bones or I might have to go all motherly on you. Now go! Good luck for your finals to all the seniors, and I'll see the rest of you soon!"

And – and it felt … it felt good to know that I'd be back.

---

"You know, for an old hag, that was pretty good back there."

The resounding _smack_ that filled the room as the door was closed behind us all was just a little bit satisfying.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and exclaimed, "Ow!" as Tsunade rolled her eyes and muttered, "Stupid brat."

Sakura giggled as Kakashi sniggered. Shizune and Iruka just looked on disapprovingly. I couldn't help but think 'now you know what it feels like, dobe, only mine's multiplied by ten'.

We all lined up in front of Tsunade's large desk as she sat down and looked over us all with her hands folded before her, covering her mouth. Her eyes were narrowed and her brow furrowed, but she didn't look mad. Especially when she smirked all of a sudden.

"Good to see no one's missing any limbs."

Kakashi laughed. "Like any of us are _that_ bad."

She shrugged. "Well you never know. They weren't bad either. And I was mainly talking about the kids."

"We're not _kids_," Naruto scowled.

"You're short, therefore you are children. Don't argue."

We all rolled our eyes as Naruto mouthed several choice insults to me and jerked his head towards his aunt. I chose to ignore him.

"Maa, we're fine, Tsunade-sama," Shikamaru yawned, waving his hand absently. "We got booted out of there fast enough."

Tsunade nodded and turned to me. "And your brother was okay?"

I shrugged. "As okay as he can be, I suppose."

"Your cousin?"

"Already gone."

"Did he explain anything?"

"Nothing I could make much sense of."

She just nodded again and looked up at my science teacher. "Have you had that looked at?"

Iruka blushed a little at his injury and touched it gingerly before Kakashi batted his hand away. "No, I'll be fine, thank you."

She frowned but said no more and the silence stretched uncomfortably.

Naruto fidgeted.

"Sorry, but is there any specific reason you called us all in here?" Neji asked politely.

She grinned and shrugged, leaning back in her chair. "Eh, not really. Just wanted to make sure you were all in one piece. You know, Duty of Care and all that."

"But –"

"I'm well aware that last night breached the Duty of Care in more ways than an elephant could break a picket fence, Shizune, but that's beside the point. The point is you're _safe_. _Now_ at least."

Another silence.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Okay… I think we've established everyone's fine, if not a little confused, so…?"

Tsunade grinned and waved her hands at us. "Right, right, get your sorry arses out of here. Except you two," she added, pointing to me and Naruto. "For everyone else, thank you. I mean it."

Everyone nodded and bowed, heading out silently. Even Gaara had nothing to say. Sakura cast us a nervous look over her shoulder as Shikamaru mouthed that they'd wait outside for us. I nodded and waited until the door had closed firmly behind them all before turning to look at Tsunade.

She stared at us for an awkwardly long time. Just stared. Didn't say anything. At all. Just… stared.

"Yo Granny, anyone home?"

Her eyes snapped over to Naruto and narrowed. "I am _not_ old."

He grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Never said you were."

"You implied it."

"Well, yeah. Duh."

She rolled her eyes up to the ceiling and rested her palms flat on the table, breathing deeply before smirking. "So when's the wedding?"

I held back an amused snort as Naruto did the predictable and flipped out.

"Y-You…! What? Me and _him_? You've _got_ to be kidding! We – ju- _eh_?!"

Tsunade and I shared a look as I put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Dobe, she was joking."

He glared at me. "Well, yeah. Der. I knew that," he sniffed.

"Mhmm."

Tsunade laughed at us, long and hard. "Ah, young love. So much fun to tease people with." Before Naruto could interrupt with more annoying protests that the both of us knew weren't true, she continued. "That was all I wanted to say, except that Anko said, and I quote, 'Tell that Uchiha that he looks like shit so I'm guessing he learned his lesson, and if he ever does it again I'll give him a right foot up the arse. Tell him that slack arse Haku isn't here so I'm giving him the last one off. Oh, and that he did a brilliant job last night. He should consider a career in acting'. Sound about right?"

I frowned. "Yeah, except for that last bit. You can tell her thank you, but that's not happening."

Tsunade laughed again. "Such a pity. You were quite good, you know."

"What, no praise for me?" Naruto interjected.

"No."

"You –"

"I'll see you at home, brat."

"Bu-"

I grabbed him by the collar. "We're leaving."

But before I could shut the door he stuck his foot in it and said in a quiet voice, "So you're back?"

There was a short silence before Tsunade replied just as quietly, "Yeah, I'm back. Now piss off."

His indignant protests were cut off by the slamming of the heavy doors and Gaara telling him to shut up. He pouted at me and I turned away pointedly. I shouldn't have to deal with that look. It never got me anywhere.

"So…" Sakura said stupidly as we all headed out of the main office and began the walk to our various homes. "How are we all?"

Every single one of us just looked at her and stared.

She shrugged. "Who wants to go to Sasuke's café for a drink?"

We stared harder.

She whistled. "Woo, tough crowd."

Gaara snorted. "Nice try."

She huffed and flung her arms up as she turned her back on us to go her own way home. "Fine! Sorry for wanting to maybe keep something together after everything that's happened. I guess I'll just go back home and be boring with my parents and – my _parents_! Oh shit they're probably worried _sick_ sorry guys gotta go I love you and all that crap-bye!"

And she ran off in a flurry of pink and waving arms and tacky air-kisses over her shoulder.

Naruto shouted, "We love you too!" after her retreating figure.

Neji and I shook our heads as Gaara raised an eyebrow in clear disagreement. Shikamaru just scoffed and yawned loudly, watching her go and muttering "_Women_," under his breath.

I hung back as the others continued to walk up the flight of steps and across to the gate, tapping Shikamaru on the shoulder to get his attention. He cast me a suspicious look but fell into step with me, waiting patiently.

A few moments of silence passed while I tried to sort out my head and when I thought I had something vaguely meaningful to say I broke it with, "Thanks, man. Really. It… yeah."

He just snorted and nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets and scuffing the asphalt as he walked. "It's cool."

I laughed shortly through my nose, about to ask if he would walk home with me and Naruto before he interrupted me mid-thought.

"I'm heading this way. Temari wanted to meet up at the shop and its quicker going the back way."

I nodded as he lifted a hand over his shoulder, heading off towards the exit by the science block. Suddenly I called out, causing him to pause and look back over to me as I just gave him a wide grin, hoping he would get it.

He stared at me for a moment, before I saw the corner of his lips lift the tiniest bit and he was walking away again.

Yeah, he got it.

I sighed with a stupid grin, watching him walk off for a moment before I caught up with the other's and tugged on Naruto's sleeve at the gate, urging him to face the right direction so we could finally head home. I gave Gaara a questioning look, wondering if he would walk home my way like usual.

He shook his head, tilting it briefly towards Neji, and I nodded, taking the hint.

"Come on, dobe," I said shortly. "We're going."

"What, no manly discussion of the aftermath?"

"There _is_ no aftermath."

"Sure there is!"

"Such as?" Neji asked.

"Well," Naruto began, grinning. "We don't have crazy people at school anymore - and I'm ignoring Tsunade and Kakashi, here. No more kickarse drama lessons which you know, we _totally_ loved, right? Orochimaru won't try and snag _my_ man anymore, who, by the way, is staying in good old Konoha for good now because the _aftermath_ made him realise how much he really does love us all, and I don't have to live with a nerd, a freak, a paranoid aunt and a piss weak uncle. Win-win situation, I think it's called."

"As I said, there is no aftermath worthy of a 'manly discussion'. So let's go."

"But -!"

"Naruto." I tried to put as much force behind my words without sounding pissed off, because I wasn't, really. I was just tired and I felt uncomfortable here. There were a few stragglers passing by laughing and talking about all the places they were going on the holidays, and I suppose I'd become so accustomed to the fact that I'd be gone indefinitely in three days time that it felt a little weird to know that I could enjoy the time with my friends too.

Naruto tilted his head as he looked across at me and said quietly, "Oh, okay…"

I looked through my fringe at the other two in front of us, turning to go their own way to Neji's place as I said, "Thanks, guys. For everything. You know… yeah. I guess."

Before Naruto could comment on my profound coherency skills, Gaara nodded once and turned on his heel, dragging Neji around with him as they set off.

Naruto threw an arm around my shoulder with a big grin as he leaned his head against mine and turned us around, starting the walk home. "You're a goof at heart, I knew it."

I raised an eyebrow. "How does that make me a 'goof'?"

He shrugged laughing into my neck briefly. "Dunno. Just does. It's cute."

I figured that getting a little mad at him for calling me a goof and cute in the space of ten seconds probably wasn't a good idea when we'd just gotten over a bit of a bump in the road (and by a bit of a bump I mean quite a sizeable mountain), and so continued on in dignified silence.

Well, until I interrupted it too quickly for it even to _be_ a dignified silence. But whatever.

"Hey, Naruto…?" I ventured cautiously.

He tilted his head towards me. "Hm?"

I narrowed my eyes. "How did you find it all out? I mean, you didn't know it _all_ because _I_ didn't even know it all, but you figured enough of it out and -"

"Haku," he answered simply. "And a little bit of Iruka-manipulating." A short pause, then he added quietly, "And possibly… overhearing some conversations once you ripped into me about… yeah…"

"Oh."

Brief silence.

"What did you overhear?"

"Sasuke, it's over. We don't need to worry about it anymore."

"Yes, but -"

"Oh look at that, I think it's going to rain. And just when the weather was getting good, too!"

"Naruto."

"Are you a winter or summer person?"

From then on I refused to acknowledge any of his (incredibly pathetic) attempts at conversation until we got into the door and he decided that the only way to get a response out of me was to snog me senseless the second we stepped inside.

I tried to fight – sort of. Maybe. A little bit. Okay, I didn't, at all, but neither would you, trust me. His lips were far too inviting and the weight of his arms around my neck was so familiarly comfortable that I couldn't help but fall into it all over again. And it was almost funny how the four kisses we'd shared since I'd gotten off my high horse and realised how I felt about him were so different, this one being just… just because. There was no reason other than the fact that Naruto just felt like it, and it was – it was nice.

He pulled back with a smile and even took the liberty of ruffling my hair before grabbing my hand and leading me to the kitchen, where he immediately went to the fridge and the leftover noodles while I was sidetracked by a piece of paper left on the bench covered in a semi-familiar scrawl.

I let go of Naruto's hand a picked it up, muttering, "There's a letter from Itachi," half to him and half to myself.

Naruto appeared by my side, bowl of cold noodles cradled in his hand, and slurped them noisily, "Huh?"

I gave him an exasperated look and answered, "Note from Itachi."

"Wha'sit say?"

"Uh…" I turned back to the note, scrunching my eyes up in an attempt to read it easier. Normally my brother's handwriting wasn't too bad – okay, that was a lie. It changed all the time yet somehow managed to retain a certain character about it that was unmistakable. Just that today happened to be one of his worse days. "Something about Same… and a duck… and not to put the noodles in the washing machine." I glanced up at him. "Keep that in mind, you." Back down to the note. "And that… oh, he's gone in to work to help out with the final preparations and should be back in…" a quick glance at the clock, "an hour."

Naruto just nodded and turned his back on me, rinsing out his bowl in the sink while I stood there and stared at the back of his head in astonishment. Really, how he could eat that fast and not choke or get indigestion or _something_ was completely beyond me.

"Is he okay?"

I blinked, taking a second to catch on, and shrugged when I did. "Yeah, I guess. He either hasn't reacted yet or he just doesn't care. I don't know… Hard to know what's going on his head when I don't even think _he_ knows."

Naruto laughed quietly and a little sadly and I grabbed a tea towel to hand to him – when the front door burst open and Itachi came careering into the kitchen with wide eyes and that so wasn't an hour.

I frowned. "Um… Itachi?"

If possible, his eyes grew even wider and he focused on me, coming right up close as he said practically all as one word, "Oh my God Sasori's gone and no one knows where Orochimaru is and everyone was talking about New Zealand and everything's gone to shit – what'd I miss?"

I rolled my eyes and gave Naruto a fleeting glance over my shoulder as I shrugged, "Nothing much."

I threw the tea towel at him when he snorted.

Stupid dobe.

* * *

-cries-

THE END! SORT OF! THE END OF THE ACTUAL OFFICIAL STORY! UNTIL THE EPILOGUE! OH MY GOD! -runs around like a madwoman-

eeeeeeeeeeee okay I'll save it. Next week! DX


	27. Epilogue

I'll say it all at the end (there's a whooole page of ranting down there, folks), but I'd just like to give out an enormous (and probably much-repeated by now) thank you to **red-headed psychopaths wanted**, because she's the genius who gave me this title, and, consequently, the idea that refused to leave until this was written. Sadly, it seems as though she's disappeared though, which sorta sucks... But kudos to her, and especially kudos to my super fantastic beta **KL Lover**, who actually finished this ages ago but I was too fail to update until now. My bad!

In any case, I hope you enjoy the final instalment of So He's My Boyfriend, Right!

**Previous disclaimers apply**.

* * *

EPILOGUE: MY LIFE IS A SHAKESPEARIAN TRAGEDY

I think back over the last two years and honestly, I can't help but laugh a little. My parents didn't take too lightly to the dumping I gave them and sent me abusive letters (well, my father did), which Naruto found infinitely amusing.

"Oh, oh, oh! Look! He said 'you will never amount to anything' and that… oh now _that's_ just harsh. You're 'no son of mine', apparently."

"Well I sure _hope_ I'm no son of yours."

"No, you twat, _he_ said that."

And other times I would get the nice letters from my mother, as if she was hoping to repair whatever damage my father had done and try to coax me back over there with her apparent kindness. Of course, that kindness always ended up the same way.

"She still wants you to get a girlfriend."

"She can want all she likes; it's not going to happen."

"Too right it's not going to happen!"

But now, after two years, I'm a little sick of it, and so is he. It's only fair, really, that we at least give them _one_ reply. Whether they _like _that reply or not is completely up to them.

Naruto's laughing himself stupid on my bed as he comes up with all the possible ways to make them stop writing to me and successfully proving themselves as top candidates for the World's Most Infuriating Parents. I give him a look that kindly asks him to shut up before turning back to my desk to write, pointedly ignoring anything he shouts over at me in between fits of laughter. Honestly, sometimes I wonder how on earth I'm still with that kid.

"Oi, dobe, shut up."

He snorts. "What?"

"Do you want to hear it or not?"

"Oh are you finished?"

I roll my eyes. "Obviously."

He grins stupidly and arranges himself comfortably on the bed, giving me an impatient look. I raise an eyebrow at him, shake my head with a tiny smile that just won't listen to me when I tell it to please leave, and look down at the paper in my hands to read.

"'Dear Father and Mother-'"

"Cut out the 'Dear'."

"Why?"

"Well you don't want to be _nice_ to them, do you? They've hounded you for two years straight, they don't even deserve a short 'yo!'"

I shrug, conceding his point, and scratch out the offending word before continuing.

"'I have received all your letters to date and I apologise for not replying until now, however I didn't see it fit to do so.'"

Naruto giggled, cutting me off again. "Oooh, cold and formal. I like it."

"'You see, it seems as though you were displeased with my decision to remain in Konoha and continue my studies here, therefore rejecting your proposal to begin training to lead Sharingan Protection. However, judging from my obvious lack of replies, I thought you would have realised that I simply do not care. I don't want to have anything to do with the company that ruined my brother's mind, turned my father into an overbearing control freak, and my mother into a nervous, paranoid wreck. Sometimes I think Shisui is the only one with an ounce of sanity in our family.' So far so good?"

Naruto nods, giving me a strange look that makes my stomach do weird things, and patting the place next to him on my bed. Never one to refuse, I move from the chair to beside him, and continue reading with him looking on, head propped up on my shoulder.

"'I have not once regretted the decision that you so blatantly disapprove of and in all honesty I don't care about the apparent 'future plans' you had laid out for me. I've been doing excellent at school, with people who actually care about me to support me, and don't intend on turning my back on them.'"

Naruto breathes against my neck and nuzzles into my shoulder, an arm slinking around my waist. I pause, but he urges me to keep going.

"Uh… Where was I?" My eyes scan the page. "Oh, right. 'We graduate in a month's time and after that I might go to university, I might get a job, I might take up drugs and live on the streets - who knows? Whichever way it pans out, I have a feeling it would be a lot better if you stopped writing to me. I rejected Sharingan because I don't want anything to do with it. I signed away that possible avenue of my life two years ago and I don't want to address it ever again. And I couldn't rip Shisui's dream out from under him as you seem so intent on doing. Give him more credit; he has a brilliant mind.'"

Naruto murmurs something in my ear and I tilt my head to ask him to repeat it.

He shrugs and says again, "You're nice, that was all."

I raise an eyebrow. "'Nice'?"

He nods. "Yeah. I like it how you're sticking up for Shisui. They need to be told, and if no one else is going to, then it has to be you."

"Well, I wasn't -"

"Keep going."

I blink. "Okay… There's only a little bit left. 'In short, my point is that no matter how hard you try, no matter what insults and/or threats you send my way, I'm staying in Konoha and doing what _I_ want, Itachi's insanity and all. But there's one more thing I would like to point out from your numerous letters - don't tell me time and time again to go and 'find a nice girl'. I won't be doing that. Ever. I have a boyfriend and have had one since I returned from my visit to see you when Father presented his deal. His name is Uzumaki Naruto and if you _don't_ stop pestering me about women, I will give you a detailed description of our sex life.'"

There's a long, stretched-out silence in which Naruto sits up properly to stare at me in complete bewilderment. Eventually, his mouth stretches into an impossibly wide grin and suddenly he is laughing hard, taking in sharp gulps of air as he struggles to breathe, and falling back against my pillows.

I eye him warily, smiling to myself in almost-disbelief, and put a hand on his stomach to get him to calm down. "Hey dobe, don't suffocate or anything."

But he just cuts himself off with a snort, grabs my arm and yanks me down on top of him for a breathless kiss, both of us chuckling into it as he breaks away to gasp out, "You actually put that in?"

I nod.

"I was just kidding, teme!"

I shrug and kiss him again quickly, sitting back up on my knees and staring down at his happily flushed face. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want me to take it out?" I lift up my pen and make to cross out the last paragraph, but a quick hand shoots out and rips the pen from my grasp.

Naruto breaks out into a new fit of giggles, though this is somewhat more restrained, at least, and he shakes his head. "No way! If you don't post that right now I'm going to steal all your chocolate and no, I'm not joking."

I narrow my eyes. "You wouldn't."

H e waggles his eyebrows and is positively leering at me as he says, "Oh _really_?"

I don't want to take my chances, because he's done it before (quite possibly the worst day of my life) and I'm already shrugging on my jacket to walk to the post box at the end of the street before he can even sit up.

Two weeks later, we get a reply.

"They still want you to get a girlfriend. In fact, they're quite interested in meeting her."

I frown and heave myself up off my bed, snatching a pen and some paper from the desk. "Well then…"

Naruto saunters up to me all too quickly and his lips are on mine before I can think what's happening. His kiss is hot and demanding and I respond immediately, forcing him to let me take over, pen and paper forgotten on the floor as I dig my fingers into his hips.

He pulls back for air and stares into my eyes as he smirks, "Well then we best make sure they've got something to read about, huh?"

I give him an answering smirk and my hands are all over his naked skin before he can so much as blink.

Mind you, the letter is written… eventually. We have a lot to write about, to say the least. Apparently my parents don't, however, because needless to say, that particular letter never warranted a reply.

Huh, funny how that happens.

---

When I wrote to my parents and told them that in a month's time I would be graduating, I never gave it much thought. Here I am, though, standing in a hall filled with all my friends and all their family. Their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, cousins, even grandparents. I have Itachi, I have Itachi's boyfriend, and I have Shisui.

Shisui just stares at me with his arms folded and gives a slight nod as I meet his gaze. That seems to be the best I can hope for, but in all honestly it was enough that he even came, considering I had absolutely no forewarning whatsoever.

And there's Itachi, in between Shisui and Kisame, and looking a little bewildered. So far I haven't seen him acknowledge Shisui once and can only hope that the forgetfulness won't wear off anytime soon. There has only been one crazy eyes incident in the last two years, and I'm not willing to make it two. Kisame, who seemingly doesn't know whether to applaud us all or turn around and drag my brother out of the hall, is looking everywhere but at either me or my brother. I wouldn't want to look at my brother either, to be honest. He's clapping a little insanely now, over his previous bewilderment in a flash, but when I think about it, I don't really feel any embarrassment. He is who he is and no amount of medication will change that.

… Plus, he's sort of entertaining to watch.

The whole year level is standing in a horseshoe shape, divided into groups based on awards received by faculty. Naruto is directly behind me in what I like to call the knuckle-headed sports section- and I do _not_ squirm when he pinches my butt. Tenten grins at me from the opposite side of the hall among all the metal tech nerds, apparently having caught the motion, so I roll my eyes at her and move on.

Neji looks a little peeved over there with Gaara and the art kids, and I swear Sai is trying to look down the top of the girl beside him, obviously over the brief stint with Sakura that ended miserably for him and hilariously for all of us. Choji's looking proud as punch in the Food Tech group, and Ino's watching him with starry eyes in the front row, having transferred to the Hair and Beauty Institute in the city. Apparently they're together at the moment. They'd been breaking up and getting back together repeatedly since Ino moved at the end of year ten due to various reasons, most of them petty and entirely Ino's fault.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

Women.

Kiba's standing next to her, eyes seemingly glued to Shino in the science department, and a tiny white puppy not-so-inconspicuously hidden in his jacket. He dropped out at the same time as Ino, claiming that you didn't need school to become a dog trainer because 'you don't need to teach dogs maths', so all you needed was experience and a good reputation. He refused to listen when we tried to explain that it didn't work like that in the real world, and went ahead and did his thing anyway. He doesn't answer when we - excluding myself - ask how it's going.

I watch as the Dogboy winks at his long-time boyfriend before moving his gaze to Hinata and waving like a mad man.

She's the biggest surprise of all – no one even knew she was _doing_ Performing Arts until the end of year production, and suddenly all those awkward half-formed excuses about needing to be somewhere after school along with all the random people she suddenly befriended made a whole lot more sense.

I smile to myself as she blushes and looks away from Kiba's attention. Still as shy as ever, but put her on a stage with lyrics in front of her and she'll blow you away. Sakura nudges an elbow into my side, grinning at me, and reaches out to squeeze my hand briefly.

'Congratulations,' she mouths.

I nod in thanks as Lee swings an arm around me from the other side, still sporting the most ridiculous haircut known to mankind, and still as energetic as ever.

"I can't believe you _beat_ me!" he shouts into my ear over the music and applause.

I shrug, not really sure how it happened either. I chance a glance past Lee and see Haku glaring at me, looking positively _livid_.

Ah well, can't be helped.

Apparently my father's influence was a little too ingrained into my brain, because try as I might, martial arts was all my body wanted to do. So here I am, top in all martial arts classes and damn well proud of it. And really, Haku and I hadn't been civil for very long. Fights became a regular occurrence. So did detentions.

I feel a poke in my lower back and half-turn towards Naruto, Lee doing the same.

"Now, now," he says between us, "I don't think his ego needs to be inflated any more than it already is."

I roll my eyes. "If anyone's to blame for the size of my ego, dobe, it's _you_."

I hear him sigh and Sakura giggle. "I can't help it if you're too good looking for your own good."

"Neither can I, sorry."

Three identical snorts are my answer and then Tsunade is congratulating us all on our achievements. But then she confirms all our suspicions - and Shikamaru is walking somewhat awkwardly up to the stage, accepting the big award for, oh, I don't know, _everything_, perhaps?

Smartarse.

University scouts will be begging at his feet.

The hall breaks out then and Temari's shouts of "Hell _yeah_!" can be heard clearly, even from all the way up front. Tsunade gives us the all-clear and suddenly everyone is tripping over their own feet to congratulate each other. I don't have to go far and in less than a second Naruto has his arms thrown around my neck and is kissing me with all the strength he can muster.

It's still as heavenly as ever and I still want to chase him for more when he breaks away, but something tells me that now is not the time, so we bump foreheads and give each other lazy smiles.

"That's it," he says.

I nod. "That's it."

"Over."

"Done for good."

"Once and for all."

"Well not _really_. There's still university, and then we've gotta get jobs and deal with all the crap of being an adult and –"

"Thanks, Gaara," Naruto cut in. "Really."

"And there's still the after par-_tay_!" Ino jumps over and shouts, followed by loud cheers from the rest of the year level, rolled up certificates thrown in the air and a wild applause loud enough to bring down the roof.

Oh yes.

After party in_deed_.

--------------

I'm not thinking straight. I'm not. I know I'm not. Not straight. Thinking straight. Actually quite circular at the moment.

Funny joke. You get it?

Ah, crap. I _must_ be drunk. I offered to help clean up afterwards. Not that I'll be much help, but really, looking around at us all, I don't think _anyone_ will be much help, least of all Sai.

The fact that he isn't even here might cause a bit of an issue.

Oh, there he is. Found him. Maybe he'll be a little more helpful now. No guarantees, though.

Wow, Lee _really_ shouldn't drink. Ever. As comfortable as Naruto's shoulder is, having Lee beside me and no Tenten to restrain him means I'm sort of beginning to fear for my right eye.

As I jerk my head out of the way of his flailing limb for the thousandth time, I hear Naruto stifle a laugh by ducking his head down into my neck. Adjusting my position to accommodate him, I lift my drink in a farewell wave to the last couple of stragglers heading around the side of the house to leave, of course forgetting to thank Neji for putting up with them. Everyone seemed to do that, poor guy. He offers his house up for the trashing and no one can even offer him a polite word of thanks.

Perhaps I've gotten far too soft over the last couple of years and my reason for offering to help stems from the annoyance I feel on Neji's behalf. Although, with Gaara hanging off him like that I don't think he's paying much attention to anything else.

Shikamaru, officially deemed the smartest of all (finally), is looking as though he's seen better days and is sprawled on his back on the decking next to Choji – the only one who looks like he can probably keep going.

Big kid. Can take a lot.

Poor Hinata. I think Kiba had a little too much fun. She's looking particularly worse for wear on the deck chair.

I bet Shino's eyes are spinning behind his damn glasses.

Hang on, Neji's glasses. What? Neji's talking.

I force my mind away from where Naruto's hands are trying to wander along my thighs and do my best to pay attention. I think I do quite well, given the circumstances.

"You're all my closest friends, right?"

Everyone gives an affirmative shout as Gaara says, "Some closer than others."  
We all laugh and Neji nods. "Yes, yes, always and forever, babe."

I wolf-whistle. Come on, you wouldn't be able to hold back either.

"Thanks, Uchiha. What I _wanted_ to say was that even though we've graduated –"

"Woo!'

"Except you, Kiba. Even though we're all going our own ways –"

"Woo!"

"We're still the one group that lasted from year seven to now."

"Woo! Yeah!"

"The fact that you've all stayed behind after everyone else has pissed off just goes to show –"

"Woo!"

"- that even though we're distant sometimes, even though we don't tell each other everything like girl scouts –"

"W-"

"Naruto, Kiba – interrupt him once more and I'll hang you both from the fan by your balls."

"I was waiting for that," Sai says quietly, biting back a laugh at Gaara's monotone input.

"They're showing their youthful - ow."

"Shut up, Lee," Tenten sighs, withdrawing her hand. Oh good, she's back.

"Even though we don't always _get along_," Neji continues forcefully.

Naruto mumbles a very quiet, "Woo…" into my ear. I snort into my drink as Kiba and Shino smirk, apparently having heard it from their tangled mess on the armchair to our left.

"We're still us. And that won't change."

There is a short, appreciative, thoughtful silence while everyone suddenly realises that school really is over and we're about to make our way in the world, or something deep and meaningful like that, when –

"_Woo_!"

"That's it –"

"Hey, we didn't interrupt!"

"They got you there," I smirk.

"I don't care! They're annoying!"

"We know, Gaara, we know."

"Shut up, Tenten," Naruto says with a grin.

"_You're_ the ones being annoying!"

"Once again, Sai, your input is _greatly_ valued."

"Screw you, Sabaku."

"That's what Neji's for!"

"Lee! _Ew_!" Hinata finds her voice through the slur of alcohol. "He's my _cousin_!"

"As much as a girl might secretly like it, we draw the line at family."

"Thank you, Ino."

"Like _what_?!"

Naruto grips my hand and slowly tugs me up, backing away from the ensuing mayhem, Shikamaru, Neji, Choji, and Sakura (not joining in for once) looking on with stupid drunken grins on their faces (even Neji), and sipping on what is probably going to be their last drink for the evening. Morning. Vague time of night.

I glance to the left and see two shadows disappearing back into the house.

Shino and Kiba have obviously made their escape, then.

I edge back with Naruto, both biting our lips to hold in the laughter just _dying_ to be let out and the second Gaara turns his back to round on Lee, we go for it.

He drags me around by our joined hands and pushes through the back door, sprinting through the maze-like house until we find the front door, and fall through it together, laughing our arses off like the drunken teenagers we are. We make it around the street corner before stopping and collapsing against a fence, still laughing.

"Eighteen, graduated, and none of us have grown a day, have we?"

I grin and shake my head as he continues.

"If anything, you've gotten _younger_. Less mature."

"All your fault, ya bastard."

He shrugged and smiled, pushing himself of the fence and coming to stand in front of me.

"How you recover so fast all the time is entirely beyond me," I mumble as I lean towards him, hands automatically going straight for his hips to pull him in closer.

"Is that a complaint?"

I shake my head, leaning forward until our lips are almost touching. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

I feel his smile as we kiss slowly, and no matter how many times we've been together in the course of our relationship, the feeling doesn't get old. Today his lips moist and bold from all the alcohol, whereas yesterday he was tired and slow, and his lips were dry. The day before that he was hard and demanding, needing a release for his frustration at Tsunade refusing to tell him who won the Track and Field award.

But today he is content, slow but confident. Unhurried, turning my knees weak with practised ease. He somewhat reluctantly drags his lips from mine, no doubt to say something to make me want to rip his clothes off and take him right here on the footpath, but I cut across before he can say anything of the sort because I don't know if I'll be able to resist.

"We promised to help clean up."

"_You_ promised," he corrects.

"Even so, I don't plan on ditching them to go have sex with you. Sorry."

I catch the smirk he sends my way, made all the sexier under the shadow from the streetlamp, and I know they're coming. The words that will make me want to rip his clothes off and take him right here on the footpath – oh, I wasn't expecting a knee to be involved in the process, though.

His face disappears entirely in the shadows as he leans forward again, this time bypassing my lips and kissing my neck, gradually heading up towards my ear, where he whispers my name in the sexiest voice known to man and I am powerless to stop the moan that escapes.

"Sasuke…" Oh. God. "You'd rather go back to _that_, where I may very well lose my balls for pissing off the redheaded panda, than come back to my house-" the thigh sliding between my legs presses a little harder, but still as teasing as the lips ghosting over my cheek "- and have _wild_ sex?"

"With you," I add, completely pointlessly, but unable to really think of anything else to say and remain somewhat coherent.

He smirks again, and by all things holy and not so, when did he get _that_ sexy?

"With me," he whispers. "_All_ of me."

I close my eyes tight, fully aware that it's been well and truly over for a while now, and drop my head back against the hard wooden fence with a dull _thunk_.

"Which way's yours?"

There's a pause longer than it should be and I open my eyes to see him looking down the street and biting his lip, a clear sign of confusion. His hand moves from my shoulder to the back of his neck, rubbing awkwardly.

"Well… We drove and you were distracting me – oh, we'll have to pick the car up tomorrow – so I wasn't really paying attention, and it's really dark, then we sort of ran out of there and – which way did we go? I don't know. I'm a little confused –"

"Then let's walk."

He snaps his head back around to face me, a little surprised. "But –"

"We'll walk whichever way we think it is. No need to stress, we'll just go with it. We've both lived here long enough to know roughly where we're going, right?"

He nods stupidly, something I've learned he does when he doesn't really get it.

I smile to myself, reaching out for his hand and pushing off the fence to walk towards what I think is left. I'm still a little hazy, you see.

"I swear, alcohol makes us switch personalities," he says after a moment, a small smile shadowing his lips. "I'm so much more bad arse and you're more carefree, like me. Much nicer, if you ask me."

"Which I didn't."

"Nope, still an arsehole."

"It takes more than a few drinks to change that, baby."

A short silence.

"Never call me that again."

"Why not?"

"It's not –"

"What? Not manly enough for you, _baby_?" I lean in at the last word, breathing into his ear in a low voice. He shivers, but says nothing, so I continue. "I like it. Just 'cos you're not a girl doesn't mean I can't call you names."

"You do call me names."

"I meant _nice_ names."

He rolls his eyes. "You're also very annoying when you're drunk."

I give him an exaggerated sigh and drop his hand to throw my arm around his shoulders, tugging him in close and kissing his temple. "Ah, but you love me."

Defiant silence meets my confident statement.

"Go on, you know you want to say it. Say you love me!"

His arm loops around my waist and I feel his stupid grin as he presses his face into my chest (yes, I grew to be quite a bit taller than him. Awesome).

"Yeah, teme, I love you," he says quietly.

I smile and kiss the top of his head, tightening my hold on him momentarily. "Love you too, dobe." There's a short silence while we just acknowledge those words and how much they mean to us, before I do the tactful thing and break it.

"What do you think?" I ask.

"I think a lot of things."

"Well you don't really."

"I do so!"

"Like what?"

"Like... ramen... you... kicking Sai's arse... ramen... you... ramen..."

"I can't believe ramen beat me by one."

He laughs and nuzzles his head into my chest again briefly. "And I haven't even gotten to how much I think about sex yet."

I snort. "I do hope I'm involved in that sex."

"Oh yes. Very much involved." Suddenly he hits me lightly on the chest. "Anyway! What were you asking?"

I frown a moment, trying to force my disjointed mind to think that far back, when I finally remember. "I was asking you what you thought."

"Yes," he sighs, "about what?"

"Well you know in Shakespeare?"

"I might."

I frown down at him for being difficult, despite knowing he can't see it, before continuing. "Do you think our lives are more of a tragedy or a comedy?"

He's silent for a very long time and I think that maybe I shouldn't have asked that. But he looks sideways at me with a tiny frown and answers, "It's a tragedy, because in tragedies people die and in comedies people get married. We're not married, and..."

He trails off and I stop walking. I know it was the wrong thing to say, even though really, he didn't even know the guy and he was a very real danger to us. Naruto is very empathetic and doesn't really believe in sides. A person is a person to him, and no one deserves to be judged. Especially once they're gone.

He doesn't stop with me, though, and it makes a lot of sense in my hazy mind when I reach out a hand to stop him and turn him around. It makes a lot of sense in my hazy mind when I pull him into a hug and laugh softly into his hear. It _doesn't_ make a lot of sense in my hazy mind when I chuckle out, "Maybe we could get married and turn it into a comedy, then? I'm sure you'll look stunning in a wedding dress."

He pushes away slightly and raises an eyebrow at me, but I feel the tension leave his body and see the tiniest of smiles tug at the corner of his lips, the now-faint whisker scars on his cheeks twitching slightly.

Then he hits me in the chest again, tells me I'm an idiot but he really does love me anyway, just not enough to wear a wedding dress for me, and we start moving again as I smile to myself like the idiot I feel like and the idiot I've been told I am.

Sometimes I have to really struggle to remember what he was like when we first got together, trying to compare the him of then to the confident, driven young man that he is now. Then again, it's times like these that I don't and that I feel we're still young and heading in a direction neither of us are really sure of. We're sure we love each other, we're sure we want to take that love somewhere – it's just the matter of the where which we haven't decided yet.

We've both grown a lot in the last two years together and I think it's safe to say that neither of us would re-do any of it.

Not Orochimaru, not my family, not the fights it caused – nothing.

Neji phrased it right, didn't he?

"_We're still us. And that won't change."_

He was a guy that drove me insane, then he was my boyfriend who drove me insane, and now he's my lover. That drives me insane.

At first I wasn't sure, but somewhere along the bumpy road we shared, I fell in love and what becomes of that love – only time will tell.

For now, though, I'll do my best to drive him as insane as he's driven me.

… Take that how you will, all you closet perverts out there.

I know you're thinking it.

* * *

Um um um OH MY GOD HOLY WHAT CHEESE AND WONDER AND HELL **YES** **I'M FINISHED**! -UNCONTROLLABLE DANCING FTW- YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH

On a more serious note (haha, I almost wrote 'nose'), I've learned a lot from writing these stories, especially this one, and thank freakin' _God_ it's over! I now know that I:

- shouldn't make promises

- should write up a plan/timeline

- should stick to said plan/timeline

- should think of a plot first

- shouldn't put fanfiction before studying for exams

- shouldn't let it consume my life

- shouldn't try to do too much with a story. Ever.

- should learn to _not freak out_

- should take better care of my poor, battered stress-worn immune system

- and definitely shouldn't write until the small hours of the morning, get 5 hours of sleep and then fall asleep in class. That's a no-no. Though much more productive when you have a maths teacher like my old one.

Hopefully I'll take these lessons into account and not make the same mistakes again… Hah, sure. Like that's going to happen. I just think the most dissatisfying thing with this story is that I tried to do far too much with it, and got completely carried away. There was too much happening at once and it made it overwhelming and blah. It was fun coming up with stupid things for Itachi to do, and being able to put in requests from you guys – you have _no_ idea how amusing he is to write. There could be more from insane Itachi, who knows? D

Thank you to _everyone_ who reviewed with something constructive to say, and even those who just went "-flails-", cause I do that too XP. Thanks for all your ideas and support and whatnot, especially when I was sick and failing. They are seriously what kept me going. I know every author says that, but now I know how they feel, and it's so true!

Seirai-chan is the most awesome amazing wonderful full-of-ideas hilarious helpful reasonable anti-stress-head _ever_ and I luff her. This story would have totally fallen in a stress-induced DISCONTINUED heap if she hadn't helped me out. –bows deeply- Thank you _so_ much, love!

KL Lover is so insanely brilliant and made of amazing for helping me out with some difficult issues with plot consistency and beta'ing these last few chapters for me. -GIANT CUDDLES-

And guess what?! You know I said I wouldn't write a lemon, right? A full-blown lemon? Well… I lied. Again. I'm good at that. You see, there was this niggly little idea at the back of my head that wouldn't go away, so I wrote it down and it came out like the side-story, which will probably be up soonish and is titled So There Was This Party, Right, because what happened to that rockin' good time that Ino promised us for Sasuke, hm?

To top it all off, giant (and I mean really freakin' huge) thank you's to all who stuck with the story (both of them) and offered advice and general well-wishes. It seems as though I lost a whole bunch of readers - either that or they just stopped reviewing - which I guess is totally understandable because really, this story was a total monster and went for _way _too long. Hopefully there'll be more from me eventually, but no more multi-chapters! If I do start posting another one then someone _please_ review/message me and send me a virtual smack on the head. Meaning whack. Meaning really enormous thumping.

Thank you.

I have a feeling I'm going to feel very, very lost when I change this story's status to 'complete'...

Until next time,

~WY


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